Division II Men's Cross Country Championships

Dates and sites: Regional competition will be conducted at eight sites November 6. The championships will be November 20 at Southern Indiana.

Field: A field of 184 runners will compete.

Selection date: The 24 teams of seven individuals each and 16 additional individuals will be determined through regional competition.

2003 team champion: Adams State.

2003 individual champion: Celedonio Rodriguez (Adams State).

Top team contenders: Adams State, Western State, Cal State Chico, Abilene Christian, Harding.

Championships notes: Colorado rivals Adams State and Western State appear headed for another cross-state shootout. The teams are locked in a three-way tie with South Dakota State for most Division II team titles with five after Adams State's victory last year, and it seems highly likely that either the Grizzlies or Western State will emerge with a sixth crown. Senior Mohamed Aden and sophomore Jesus Solis lead Adams State, while the Mountaineers are paced by junior Kelly Christensen and senior Will Banks, who was considered among favorites at last year's meet but lost a shoe and finished 48th ... Three other team contenders, including 2003 runner-up Abilene Christian, are led by contenders for the individual title. The Wildcats feature multiple track and cross country all-American Bernard Manirakiza, who finished fifth individually in 2003, while Harding's Peter Kosgei is the top returning individual finisher from last year's meet (he finished third) and two-time Cal State Chico all-American Pat Boivin looks to improve on his 15th-place finish.

Division II Women's Cross Country Championships

Dates and sites: Regional competition will be conducted at eight sites November 6. The championships will be November 20 at Southern Indiana.

Field: A field of 184 runners will compete.

Selection date: The 24 teams of seven individuals each and 16 additional individuals will be determined through regional competition.

2003 team champion: Adams State.

2003 individual champion: Chelsea Smith (Brigham Young-Hawaii).

Top team contenders: Adams State, Western State, Grand Valley State, Cal State Chico, Edinboro.

Championships notes: Adams State can match Cal Poly (now competing in Division I) for most Division II team titles with its 10th victory. The Grizzlies return four runners who finished within a minute of each other among the top 11 individual scorers in 2003. Senior Stephanie Bylander leads the team ... Western State's Alisha Williams, a two-time top-10 finisher who was named Division II cross country runner of the year in 2003, hopes she and her teammates can regain bragging rights over the cross-state rival Grizzlies, who snapped the Mountaineers' three-year victory streak ... Grand Valley State hopes to improve on last year's best-ever third-place finish, though they will have to do so without top-10 individual finisher Natalie Ewing, who is taking a year off to concentrate on nursing studies ... Four of the five top individual finishers are back from last year, including champion Chelsea Smith, who won by 25 seconds as a sophomore over freshman Mindy Sawtelle of Indiana (Pennsylvania), who also returns.

Division II Field Hockey Championship

Dates and sites: First-round competition will be held November 6 on the campuses of participating schools. The semifinals and final will be contested November 12 and 14 on the campus of one of the competing institutions.

Field: Six teams, three each from the North and South regions.

Selection date: November 1.

2003 champion: Bloomsburg.

Top contenders: Massachusetts-Lowell, Shippensburg, Bloomsburg, Bentley and Indiana (Pennsylvania) round out the top five in a recent STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll.

Championship notes: Defending champion Bloomsburg is aiming for its third straight national title and ninth overall behind junior Kristi Ney and senior Sharla Partlon, who lead the Huskies with 10 and 12 goals, respectively, this season ... Top-ranked Massachusetts-Lowell, last year's national runner-up, began the year 15-0, the best start in school history, before falling to Southern Connecticut State ... All-American senior Lindsey Knupp, who holds school records in career goals (53), career assists (31) and career points (137), and sophomore Ashley Watt, who leads the team with 15 goals, are seeking to power Shippensburg to a second straight national tournament appearance ... After an early season 2-1 overtime loss to Massachusetts-Lowell, Bentley is riding a 13-game winning streak that includes six shutouts ... Indiana (Pennsylvania) junior forward Suzanne Cornelissen ranks among the top five in Division II in goals and points.