The NCAA News - News and Features

November 10, 1997

Division I Men's Cross Country

Experienced Stanford squad ready to bid for second consecutive trophy

Event: 1997 Division I Men's Cross Country Championships.

Overview: A year ago, Stanford's men followed the lead of the Cardinal women's team and raced to the team title. The sweep was only the second in Division I men's and women's championships history (Wisconsin did the same in 1985). This year, Stanford's men will race first and the Cardinal hopes to set a standard for the women's team. It's likely to happen. Stanford, backed by the return of an experienced squad, enters the 1997 championships as the favorite. Ranked No. 1 in the most recent coaches' poll, the Cardinal is led by the trio of Brad Hauser, Brent Hauser and Nathan Nutter. Paced by those three, the Cardinal posted first-place finishes at the Stanford Invitational September 27 and the Pre-NCAA Invitational October 11. At the Pre-NCAA meet, the Cardinal easily outdistanced No. 4-ranked Colorado and No. 6 Wisconsin. Nutter earned second- and third-place showings, respectively, at the Stanford and Pre-NCAA meets, while Brad Hauser and Brent Hauser each recorded top-10 showings at both meets .... The top threat to a Stanford victory comes from eight-time champion Arkansas. The Razorbacks, who placed second in 1996, have won five of the last seven titles. Senior Ryan Wilson, eighth individually in 1996, and junior Sean Kaley, seventh in 1996, lead the No. 2-ranked Razorbacks. Joining Wilson and Kaley are sophomores Michael Power, Adam Dailey and Murray Link. In their only home meet of the season, the Razorbacks claimed the Chile Pepper Festival title October 18, posting a score of 32 points to easily defeat a field that included No. 10 Washington State and No. 13 Oklahoma State .... Michigan, behind John Mortimer and Kevin O'Sullivan, is ranked No. 3.

Field: A total of 184 individual competitors will be selected. Twenty-two teams of seven individuals -- with at least two teams from each of nine regions -- plus 30 individuals (at least three individuals from each region) will make up the field.

Dates and sites: Regional qualifying at nine sites will be November 15. The championships will be November 24 at Furman.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1279 for dates/site/schedule, 5071 for qualifiers and 5072 for championships results. Regional and championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Regional results will be published in the November 24 issue of The NCAA News and championship results will be published December 1.