Armstrong Finishes 79th in National Championship

Nov. 21, 2005

TERRE HAUTE, IN – The University of Iowa men’s cross country team has finished 19th at the 2005 NCAA championships. It’s the second consecutives season of placing in the top 20 for the Hawkeyes. Wisconsin, the 2005 Big Ten Champions and Great Lakes Regional Champions, placed three runners in the top nine to take the NCAA Title. The Badgers finished with a team score of 37 points a 68 point margin over No. 2 Arkansas. Simon Bairu won individual honors for the second consecutive season with a time of 29:15.9, the third-fastest 10K time ever posted at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, IN.

The Hawkeyes were led by seniors Adam Roche (75th, 30:58) and Matt Esche (85th, 31:03) who both placed in the top 100. Eric MacTaggart (108th, 31:22), Micah VanDenend (113th, 31:24) and Andy Napier (114th, 31:25) round out the top five for Iowa.

Sophomore Meghan Armstrong qualified individually for the women’s 6,000 meter race. She finished 79th out of 253 runners with a time of 20:56. Armstrong finished a very good season where she led Iowa in every race and qualified for NCAA’s with a 9th place finish at the Midwest Regional.

Visit www.indstate.edu/athletics/cross/championship/2005ncaa.html for complete results of the 2005 men’s and women’s NCAA Championships.

Men's Team Results (Top 10 + Iowa) Points1.      Wisconsin       372.      Arkansas        1053.      Notre Dame  1784.      Iona        2055.  Colorado        2226.  Stanford        2317.  Texas       2728.  Oklahoma State  3559.  Portland        37210. Arizona     38419. IOWA        495
Men's Individual Results (Top Three + Iowa)1. Simon Bairu (Wisconsin) 29:152. Richard Kiplagat (Iona) 29:213. Chris Solinsky (Wisconsin) 29:2775. Adam Roche (Iowa) 30:5885. Matt Esche (Iowa) 31:03108. Eric MacTaggart (Iowa) 31:22113. Micah VanDenend(Iowa) 31:24114. Andy Napier (Iowa) 31:25120. Dan Haut (Iowa) 31:27157. Jeff Kent (Iowa) 31:51="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>
Women's Individual Results (Top Three + Iowa)1. Johanna Nilsson (N. Arizona) 19:332. Caroline Bierbaum (Columbia-Barnard) 19:463. Stephanie Madia (Notre Dame) 19:4879. Meghan Armstrong (Iowa) 20:56="http:>