Senior Patrick Smyth will look to earn his third cross country All-America honor next week.

Irish Men, Women Receive At-Large Berth to NCAA Championships

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 RegionAuburn - South RegionColorado - Mountain RegionGeorgetown - Mid-Atlantic RegionIona - Northeast RegionMichigan - Great Lakes RegionMinnesota - Midwest RegionNorthern Arizona - Mountain RegionOklahoma State - Midwest RegionOregon - West RegionPenn State - Mid-Atlantic RegionProvidence - Northeast RegionStanford - West RegionTexas A&M - South Central RegionVirginia - Southeast RegionWisconsin - Great Lakes RegionWilliam and Mary - Southeast Region
Men's At-Large Teams
Brigham YoungButlerCal PolyCaliforniaFlorida StateIowa StateNorth Carolina StateNotre DamePortlandTulsaUCLAVillanovaWashington
Women's Automatic Qualifying Teams
Arkansas - South Central RegionFlorida - South RegionFlorida State - South RegionIllinois - Midwest RegionKentucky - Southeast RegionMichigan - Great Lakes RegionMinnesota - Midwest RegionNew Mexico - Mountain RegionOregon - West RegionPrinceton - Mid-Atlantic RegionProvidence - Northeast RegionRice - South Central RegionSyracuse - Northeast RegionTexas Tech - Mountain RegionVirginia - Southeast RegionWashington - West RegionWest Virginia - Mid-Atlantic RegionWisconsin - Great Lakes Region
Women's At-Large Teams
Arizona StateBaylorBoston CollegeGeorgetownIowaMichigan StateNebraskaNorthern ArizonaNotre DameSMUStanfordStony BrookVillanova