National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2000
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Divisions II and III cross country championships growth a matter of field size, geography
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STAFF WRITER
The NCAA Divisions II and III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships venture into uncharted territory this year -- Division III in terms of the championships site and Division II in regard to the number of competitors.
Division II is experiencing its first championships field-size increase since 1983 for the men and 1993 for the women. Previously, the field was composed of 132 individuals -- 17 teams of seven competitors each and 13 individuals from nonqualifying teams.
The 2000 championships, set for November 18 at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, will feature 24 teams and 16 additional individuals for a total of 184 runners of each gender. Along with the additional competitors came an increase in the number of regional qualifying meets from six to eight.
The top two teams and top two individuals from nonqualifying squads from each of the eight regional qualifying meets automatically advance to the championships. The remaining eight team berths are awarded to the regions with the first eight finishers from the 1999 championships.
Jeff DeGraw, head cross country and track and field coach at Lewis University and chair of the NCAA Track and Field Committee's Division II subcommittee, envisions many benefits for the sport because of the field-size increase. "There will be schools that probably will qualify for the championships for the first time in their history.
"That will add excitement for the sport not only at those institutions, but also in the regions in which they are located. The excitement will hopefully generate more motivation for both coaches and student-athletes across the country."
Division II coaches naturally are pleased with the increased opportunity for their student-athletes to qualify for the national championships. One such coach is George Davis, whose University of Massachusetts at Lowell teams now are in the New England region, one of the two new regions created.
Massachusetts-Lowell had been competing in the East Region qualifying meet, which has been dominated by teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Davis' men's team placed ninth overall in the regional in both 1998 and 1999, but was among the top four non-PSAC squads.
With the PSAC schools remaining in the East region and two teams from the New England region guaranteed to earn berths in the national meet, Davis can realistically make qualifying for the Division II championships a goal for his team.
"As a member of the East region, we were competing against teams mostly from Pennsylvania and West Virginia," Davis said. "Our athletes did not identify with those schools.
"Knowing we are going to compete against teams geographically closer to us and have a better chance to qualify for nationals is going to enable us to attract more students and is a real boost to the program."
The addition of 52 more competitors to each race at the national championships also does not present an equivalent number of headaches for meet administrators.
"Naturally, you have to be more cognizant of the space available at the start and finish lines," said John Cochrane, the NCAA assistant director of championships responsible for Division II cross country. "The chutes that the runners will go through after completing the race will be made longer to take them farther away from the finish line and avoid congestion.
"Otherwise, there is little difference in the conduct of the races."
Division III heads west
There will be quite a bit of difference for some of the Division III teams that qualify for the national championships, also to be held November 18. Since the men's championship was initiated in 1973 and the women's was added in 1981, the western- most site for the races has been Grinnell College in south central Iowa in 1990 and 1993.
That will change dramatically come next month, when Whitworth College plays host to Division III's top teams at Wandermere Golf Course in Spokane, Washington. With all but one of the 24 teams in both the men's and women's championships coming from outside the West Region, most of the competitors will be traveling a much greater distance to compete.
Once the teams arrive in Spokane, they are likely to receive an enthusiastic response, according to Whitworth men's and women's head cross country coach Toby Schwarz. "There is a great deal of interest in running in Spokane, including an annual timed road race in which 65,000 runners compete. In addition, some of the local boys' cross country teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
"There has been a great deal of excitement since the word went out that we are hosting the Division III championships."
In past years, it was not uncommon for several teams expected to challenge for the national title to travel to the host sites to compete in regular-season meets and the opportunity to become familiar with the championships course. This year, only four schools from outside the Pacific Northwest participated in Whitworth's NCAA Preview Meet.
"If it were fiscally possible, we would have taken the opportunity to run on the course," said Tom Donnelly, head men's cross country and track and field coach at Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia. Haverford has qualified for the Division III championship 13 out of the past 14 years.
"We were fortunate to get a very reasonable airfare last year and flew to Wisconsin-Oshkosh for a regular-season meet," Donnelly added. "However, the focus has to be on getting to the national championships by performing well at the regional meet.
"From there, you need to be prepared for anything. The main objective is having a good team ready to compete at its best in the last meet of the season."
In an attempt to assist teams for the championships, Whitworth not only has placed course maps on the official championships Web site (www.whitworth.edu/athletics/
XCChampionships/XCHome.htm), but also has included a detailed course description and five photos from various locations on the course.
That is just one way Whitworth has attempted to disseminate information. "I have answered plenty of phone calls from coaches around the country who want to know if the course is slow or fast," Schwarz said.
"The course is beautiful and I think the teams that come here will have a great experience."