Matt Williams Earns Invitation to NCAA Championships
11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 11, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Air Force junior Matt Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the Division I coaches' committee announced this evening (Nov. 11). Williams will be the first Air Force runner to compete at the national meet since 2004.
Williams earned all-region honors following a 19th-place finish at the Mountain Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 10, by clocking a career-best 10,000-meter time of 31:06.8. Williams has already competed on the national course in Terre Haute, Ind., once this season, finishing 78th at the Pre-NCAA Meet on Oct. 13, with a career-best 8,000-meter time of 24:23.
Williams, who was the Falcons' top finisher at both the Mountain West Conference and Mountain Regional championships, will be the first Air Force runner to participate at the national meet since 2004, when the squad picked up a 14th-place team finish.
Air Force, which sent full squads to the NCAA Championships in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004, has not sent an individual runner to the national stage since 1996, when Andrew Marx served as the Falcons' lone participant. The year prior (1995), Eric Mack - another individual qualifier - was the top American finisher.
Colorado and UTEP earned the automatic team berths from the Mountain Region, based on its top-two finishes, while BYU and Northern Arizona were selected as at-large teams. The top four athletes from each region who were not on an advancing team were also invited to the national meet.
Williams will join Jeremy Johnson (New Mexico), Mark Korir (Wyoming) and Seth Pilkington (Weber State) as the automatic individual qualifiers from the Mountain Region. Senior Ian McFarland narrowly missed the cut, finishing as the fifth runner in the region that was not on an advancing team.
In all, 31 teams and 38 additional individuals were selected to participate at the national meet. The 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships will take place on Monday, Nov. 19, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
