Nov. 20, 2005

Columbia, Mo. - Senior Matt Noonan (Baldwin City, Kan.) will represent Missouri in the final outing of his collegiate career as he heads to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, Monday, Nov. 21, 2005, in Terre Haute, Ind., beginning at noon. Hosted by Indiana State on the Wabash Family Sports Center 10K course, this marks Noonan's first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

After finishing third (30:58) at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships last Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa, the senior leader earned an at-large bid to the Championships and became just the ninth Missouri individual to advance to the men's Championship race. This marks the second straight year that a runner from the Missouri men's squad has competed at the Division I Championships, as Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) took 233rd in the 2004 Championships, also hosted by Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind.

Throughout the course of the 2005 season, Noonan has competed in five races, finishing as high as second at the Bradley Invitational Oct. 15. To date, Noonan has recorded seven top-10 finishes since first starting with the Tiger cross country team in 2002.

Missouri's highest finish at the men's NCAA Championships came in 1955 when Keith Bacon took first and became Mizzou's fourth cross country All-American since the inception of the program in 1929.

Complete results of the day's events will be available on line at www.mutigers.com and www.ncaa.com.