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New Mexico To Face NCAA's Best At Pivotal Pre-National Invitational
No. 28 Lobo men to battle 18 Top-30 squads; huge women's field includes 25 ranked teams.
Oct. 15, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The University of New Mexico men's and women's cross country teams open the most important stretch of the 2002 schedule on Saturday, Oct. 19 when they travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Asics/Pacesetter Pre-National Invitational. An enormous field of 90 men's and 97 women's teams from across the country will toe the line in an attempt to bolster their national rankings and increase their chances for an at-large bid to the 2002 NCAA Championships, which will also be held in Terre Haute on Nov. 25. The women will run a 6,000-meter course, while the men will run an 8K at the LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. To accommodate the number of runners, the meet will feature three women's and three men's races with the individual race fields to be seeded by rank. New Mexico's 28th-ranked men's squad will likely be pitted against some of the premier teams in the country. Top-ranked Stanford leads a contingent of 19 top-30 men's teams in Saturday's field with another eight squads which are receiving votes in the national poll set to compete as well. On the women's side, No. 1 Brigham Young is one of a staggering 25 top-30 teams set to compete along with eight more squads receiving votes in the national poll. Last year in Greenville, S.C., New Mexico's Matthew Gonzales finished 24th at the pre-nationals to lead the Lobo men to a 15th place finish in their 35-team heat. Sarah Gonzales placed 81st to lead a banged up women's squad to a 30th place finish out of 34 squads in their heat. The Pre-National Invitational is the first of three critical meets leading up to the national championships. Following the Pre-National meet, the Lobos head to Provo, Utah on Nov. 1 for the Mountain West Conference Championships, before returning home to Albuquerque for the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 16 at the UNM North Golf Course. The top two teams out of each of the nine regions automatically qualifies for the NCAA Championships. Thirteen squads will earn at-large bids based on their season performances and strength of schedule. MEET INFORMATION/RESULTS Complete information from the 2002 Asics/Pacesetter Pre-National Invitational can be found at the Indiana State University official athletic department website. Team and individual results will be available following the conclusion of the final race at approximately 3 p.m. (MDT).
Asics/Pacesetter Pre-Nationals: web.indstate.edu/athletics/cross
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