Nov. 15, 2004

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Late Sunday evening the NCAA Track & Field Committee announced the competitive field for next Monday's 2004 NCAA Cross Country Championships to be held in Terre Haute, Ind. Missouri junior Tim Ross, a native of Alto, Mich., was selected as an at-large individual qualifier as a result of his eighth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional this past Saturday.

Ross was one of two Tigers to earn All-Region honors Saturday along with fellow junior Matt Noonan. Ross also earned All-Big 12 honors this year from a sixth-place finish in the Big 12 Championships. Ross led the Tigers to their best finish in the conference and the region since 2000.

Noonan placed ninth, one spot behind Ross, on Saturday and also had hopes of an at-large bid. However, Virginia's Soeren Linder in the Southeast Region, who also placed ninth, crossed the line three-tenths of a second behind eighth-place, ousting Noonan who timed a full second behind Ross.

The ninth-ranked women's team earned a spot as a team in the NCAA Championships automatically as a result of winning the Midwest Region. They will make their 10th appearance as a team in 11 years. Last year, the Missouri women placed 12th in the NCAA Championships.

A complete preview of Monday's NCAA Championship will appear on mutigers.com later in the week. For more information, visit mutigers.com.