View NCAA Championship Preview Video

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The nationally ranked Syracuse University cross country teams will look to continue to build on its historic season when it travels to the NCAA National Championships on Monday, November 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. The meet will be hosted by Indiana State University and will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The men's 10k race will begin at 12:08 p.m., followed by the women's 6k race at 12:58 p.m. Both championship competitions will be broadcast live on the Versus Network and streamed online via NCAA.com. 

Both the No. 9 men and No. 12 women qualified as a team after winning the NCAA Northeast Region Championship on November 14 under the leadership of the 2009 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year, Chris Fox. Prior to claiming the Northeast title, the men were crowned BIG EAST Champions for the first time in school history. The women also earned a program-best conference finish, placing third overall.

Monday's championship race will mark the first time in 35 years the men have qualified as a team for Nationals. Last year, seniors Dan Busby and Brad Miller were Syracuse's two individual qualifiers, and finished 83rd and 127th, respectively. Miller, a 2009 Northeast All-Region team selection, will be joined by five other All-Northeast selections, including sophomore Pat Dupont. Dupont led SU at both the Northeast Regional and at the BIG EAST Championship, where he placed fifth and fourth, respectively. Sophomores Griff Graves, Forrest Misenti, and Tito Medrano, as well as senior Jeff Scull will round out the men's squad at Nationals.

The women's team will head to the championship for its second consecutive season, after qualifying for its first time last year. USTFCCCA Northeast Region Athlete of the year Katie Hursey will lead the Orange after becoming SU's first individual women's champion in program history. Hursey has clocked the team's best time in four of the five races she has participated in this season, including an eighth-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship. Sophomores Lauren Penney and Natalie Busby, as well as junior Catherine DeSarle and senior Maegan Krifchin will also represent the Orange at Nationals.

A preview of the NCAA Championship, including interviews with Fox, Dupont, and Hursey, can be viewed for free on Orange All-Access.