Nov. 16, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THIS WEEK – The University of Iowa men’s cross country team will compete in the NCAA Championships Monday. Indiana State University will host the 2005 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s cross country championships, November 21, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, Terre Haute, IN. The men’s race will begin at 11 a.m. time followed by the women’s race at 12:15 p.m. Meghan Armstrong will compete as an individual in the women’s race. She qualified by being one of the top four runners in her regional who wasn’t on a qualifying team. This marks the fourth time Head Coach Larry Wieczorek has led Iowa to NCAA’s and the third out of the last four years. It is also Iowa’s second straight appearence. The Hawkeyes placed 13th last year.
LAST TIME OUT – The Iowa men placed second in the Midwest Regional Championships . Sophomore Eric MacTaggart led Iowa with a time of 31:16 and finished 10th. MacTaggart was joined by teamates Adam Roche, Micah VenDenend, Matt Esche, and Dan Haut on the all-regional team. The Iowa women placed sixth at Regionals. Sophomore Meghan Armstrong finished ninth out of 158 runners with a time of 21:09. Armstrong has led the team in every race this season. She joins teamate Racheal Marchand on the all-regional team for placing in the top 25 in the meet.
IOWA IN THE RANKINGS – The Iowa men jumped two spots to No. 18 in the Mondo Men’s NCAA-I Cross Country Poll and No. 2 in the Midwest Region Poll. This marks the seventh poll the Hawkeyes have been ranked. Their highest ranking of the season was tenth.
HAWKEYE COACH Larry Wieczorek – Larry Wieczorek is in his 18th season as Iowa men’s cross country coach. In the past six years, Iowa has placed no lower than sixth at the NCAA Regional, including a first place finish at the 2002 NCAA Regional, the highest finish in school history. Wieczorek was a two-time Big Ten champion and a member of Iowa’s last Big Ten track championship team in 1967. Wieczorek still owns Iowa records in the outdoor 5,000-meters and the indoor two mile.
HAWKEYE COACH Layne Anderson – Layne Anderson is in his second season as Iowa women’s cross country coach and assistant women’s track coach. Anderson guided the cross country team to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional jumping three spots from his first year. Anderson served as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant track coach at Auburn University prior to joining the Iowa staff. During his tenure at Auburn, he coached seven all-Americans, two SEC champions and 58 academic all-SEC performers.
QUOTING COACH WIECZOREK – “We are really happy for another oppurtunity to run at NCAA’s. It would be a big accomplishment for us to place in the top 20 again. That would make it two years in a row. There are so many good teams that it will be tough.”