For results and more information regarding the meet, surf to the championship webpage at
http://www.usi.edu/sports/xcc_championships/Maps.asp

MEET PREVIEW: The Alaska Anchorage men's and women's cross country teams head to Evansville, Ind., to compete in the 2009 NCAA Div. II Championships on Nov. 21. The women's 6K race will commence at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 10K race at 10 a.m. AST.

The women's team enters the meet with a program-best No. 3 ranking following their triumph at the NCAA West Region meet on Nov. 7 ... in the rankings, the Seawolves trail Grand Valley State (No. 1) and Missouri Southern State (No.2) ... UAA will look to hold off No. 4 Adams State and West Region foe No. 5 Chico State ... the Seawolves will continue to work as a pack, while the top runner could be any of the five athletes; senior Laura Carr, junior Hallidie Wilt, sophomore Ruth Keino, sophomore Shoshana Keegan and freshman Miriam Kipngeno ... on the men's side, the No. 19 Seawolves will look to the trio of junior Marko Cheseto, freshman Micah Chelimo and sophomore Alfred Kangogo to lead them to their best finish ever at the NCAAs ... making their second consecutive trip to Nationals is Cheseto, Kangogo, senior Paul Rottich, Carr, Wilt, Keegan, Keino and sophomore Emma Bohman (full NCAA finishes on page 3) ... Carr will be making her fourth appearance at the NCAAs.

Hosting the championships is the University of Southern Indiana ... the races will be run on the USI Cross Country course.

2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: The men's and women's team both produced its best team results ever the national meet ... the women's team placed 9th, while the men's team were 11th ... UAA was led by three All-American finishes ... Elizabeth Chepkoskei became the first Seawolf woman to post All-American honors, finishing 28th ... posting UAA's highest placing at the NCAAs was then-sophomore Marko Cheseto (9th) ... Jake Parisien rounded out the UAA All-American finishes in 17th place.

UAA'S HISTORY AT NATIONALS: UAA has been involved in eight team competitions and has sent three individuals to Div. II Nationals since 2000 ... on the men's side, head coach Michael Friess has qualified five teams, with a top team placing of 11th in 2008 ... the Seawolves qualified in 2001 (16th), 2002 (12th), 2005 (20th) and 2006 (15th) as well ... individually, Tobias Schwoerer became the first Seawolf to compete at a cross country Nationals when he qualified in 2000 ... Schwoerer went on to make two more appearances at the national level, including a 35th place in 2001, giving him All-American status ... following Schwoerer paces, David Kiplagat posted four National appearances in his tenure at UAA ... on the women's side, the Seawolves made it to Nationals in two consecutive seasons - 2004 and 2005 (12th) - and in 2008 ... In 2008, the women's team posted the program's best ever finish (9th) ... the 2005 Nationals in Chino, Calif., marked the first time that both teams qualified in the same season, followed by both team qualifying in 2008.

AWARDS, ACCOLADES & HONORS OF PLETHORA: With the championships still underway, the Seawolves have racked up numerous awards over the past two weeks ... following the GNAC Championship on Oct. 24, UAA's Marko Cheseto was selected as the GNAC's Male Cross Country Runner of the Year, while Micah Chelimo and Miriam Kipngeno brought home Freshmen of the Year honors ... head coach Michael Friess was honored as the women's GNAC Coach of the Year, and the women's West Region coach of the Year (1st ever) ... the GNAC honor for Friess is his seventh conference accolade and eighth overall - one  acquired in the Pac West Conference ... Cheseto was also selected as the men's West Region Athlete of the Year-first ever region award for a UAA runner ... in addition to the athletic awards, seven Seawolves were selected to the GNAC All-Academic Team (see full list on page 3) ... overall, the Seawolves produced eight runners to both the All-Conference and All-Region teams.

SEAWOLVES SUCCESSFUL AT WEST REGIONAL: The men's and women's team earned its second consecutive trip to the NCAAs after the women's won UAA's first-ever West Region title and the men's team finished third ... on the women's side, the Seawolves placed all five runners in the top 15 for a program-best 35 points on the Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow course ... prior to the meet, the highest placing for UAA's women was third - accomplished on three occasions (2008, 2005, 2004), while the men's best finish was second, registered last season ... paced by junior and Unalaska native Hallidie Wilt in third place with a time of 21 minutes, 11.5 seconds, all five Seawolf scorers finished within 35 seconds of each other for the title and All-West Region honors ... sophomore Ruth Keino (4^th, 21:11.8) and freshman Miriam Kipngeno (5^th, 21:17.9) rounded out the top 5, while senior Laura Carr (21:30.3) and sophomore Shoshana Keegan (21:45.7) placed 9th and 14^th, respectively, in the 6K race ... Carr became the first Seawolf woman to post three All-West Region honors (2009, 2008, and 2006) ... on the men's side, junior Marko Cheseto (Kapenguria, Kenya) raced to an individual title in a time of 30:42 seconds in the 10K race after finishing runner-up last season. Cheseto led the Seawolves -- who entered the meet ranked 4th regionally and 22nd nationally -- to third place with 96 points, earning the region's final NCAA berth on the men's side ... freshman Micah Chelimo and sophomore Alfred Kangogo each finished in the top 15 to claim All-West Region honors ... Chelimo completed the race in third place in a time of 31:05, while Kangogo was 10^th, crossing the line at 31:35 ... rounding out the UAA scorers were senior Paul Rottich (37^th, 33:04), and sophomore Michael Adams (47^th, 33:32.7), an Anchorage native.