Nov. 17, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -

The Notre Dame men's and women's cross country teams each received at-large bids to the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, announced today by the NCAA.

This will be the fifth consecutive trip to the national championships for the Irish men.

Both teams are coming off fourth-place finishes at the Great Lakes Regional meet last weekend.

Senior Patrick Smyth won his second consecutive men's individual title with a time of 31:06.

Junior Lindsey Ferguson led the Irish women, finishing 10th in 21:29.

The NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 24 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The women's race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m. (EST) followed by the men's race at 12:48 p.m. Both championship races will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network and streamed online at NCAA.com.

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2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships Field

Men's Automatic Qualifying Teams
Arkansas - South Central Region
Auburn - South Region
Colorado - Mountain Region
Georgetown - Mid-Atlantic Region
Iona - Northeast Region
Michigan - Great Lakes Region
Minnesota - Midwest Region
Northern Arizona - Mountain Region
Oklahoma State - Midwest Region
Oregon - West Region
Penn State - Mid-Atlantic Region
Providence - Northeast Region
Stanford - West Region
Texas A&M - South Central Region
Virginia - Southeast Region
Wisconsin - Great Lakes Region
William and Mary - Southeast Region

Men's At-Large Teams
Brigham Young
Butler
Cal Poly
California
Florida State
Iowa State
North Carolina State
Notre Dame
Portland
Tulsa
UCLA
Villanova
Washington

Women's Automatic Qualifying Teams

Arkansas - South Central Region
Florida - South Region
Florida State - South Region
Illinois - Midwest Region
Kentucky - Southeast Region
Michigan - Great Lakes Region
Minnesota - Midwest Region
New Mexico - Mountain Region
Oregon - West Region
Princeton - Mid-Atlantic Region
Providence - Northeast Region
Rice - South Central Region
Syracuse - Northeast Region
Texas Tech - Mountain Region
Virginia - Southeast Region
Washington - West Region
West Virginia - Mid-Atlantic Region
Wisconsin - Great Lakes Region
Women's At-Large Teams

Arizona State
Baylor
Boston College
Georgetown
Iowa
Michigan State
Nebraska
Northern Arizona
Notre Dame
SMU
Stanford
Stony Brook
Villanova