The NCAA News - News & Features

Division III

Will this finally be the year for Wisconsin La Crosse, a three-time runner-up?

Overview: Twice in the championships' 23-year history, North Central has outdistanced Wisconsin-La Crosse for the team title. This year, Wisconsin-La Crosse hopes to reverse the trend. The nation's No. 1-ranked team, Wisconsin-La Crosse appears ready to step into the winner's circle for the first time. The Eagles, who have earned three runner-up finishes (including 1993), boast a veteran squad led by seniors James Ratcliff (a transfer from Christopher Newport) and Dan Murphy and juniors Brad Wilson and Brett Altergott. Wilson, Ratcliff and Altergott form a 1-2-3 combination matched by few teams. The three each earned top-25 finishes in 1995, placing 14th, 22nd and 23rd, respectively .... North Central, ranked No. 2, has more than enough experience and depth to add to its record total of nine cross country titles. Like Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Cardinals boast an experienced lineup. Matt Brill, Tony Rizzo, Jeff Stiles, Jack Kasel and Aaron Cook combine to form the squad's top five. The team's most experienced performer is Brill, who finished second individually last year .... Williams, which outdistanced North Central for the title at each of the last two championships, is vying to join Wisconsin-Oshkosh as the only teams to win three consecutive team titles. Senior cocaptains Tim Billo and Matt Buck, as well as Paul Alsdorf, are the squad's top performers. Billo, who placed 13th overall at the 1995 championships, is the squad's No. 1 runner, while Alsdorf and Buck occupy the Nos. 2 and 3 slots, respectively.

Field: A total of 184 individual competitors will be selected. Twenty-one teams of seven individuals -- at least one team from each of eight regions -- plus 37 individuals (at least three individuals from each region) will make up the field.

Dates and sites: Regional qualifying will be November 9 at eight regional sites. The championships will be November 16 at Augustana (Illinois).

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1290 for dates/sites/schedule and 5074 for championships results. Championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the November 25 issue of The NCAA News.

Championships notes: Wisconsin-La Crosse won the Jim Drews Invitational October 12, outdistancing a field of 18 teams, including North Central (ranked No. 1), Wisconsin-Oshkosh (No. 7) and Augustana (Illinois) (No. 8) .... North Central has won two of the three championships hosted by Augustana (Illinois).