2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships

Monday, Nov. 20
LaVern Gibson Championship Course
Indiana State U. — Terre Haute, Ind.

Meet Schedule (Central Time)
11 a.m. Women’s Race 6K
12:15 p.m. Men’s Race 10K

Golden Gopher Watch List — Nov. 20, 2006

• Minnesota Women Compete in NCAA Cross Country Championships - The Minnesota women’s cross country team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday to compete in the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The women’s 6-kilometer race begins at 11 a.m. (CT).
• Golden Gophers Look to Better Ninth-Place Finish From 2005 - The Golden Gophers head into the national meet with a goal of bettering Minnesota’s best-ever ninth-place finish from 2005. Minnesota is led by a pair of All-Americans in Ladia Albertson-Junkans and Emily Brown.
• Gopher Men Represented by Chris Rombough at NCAA Meet - The Gopher men saw their consecutive streak of NCAA team berths end at nine but Minnesota will still be represented at the NCAA Championships by sophomore Chris Rombough. Rombough earned an automatic individual berth by placing second at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships.
• Big Ten Sends Six Women’s Teams, Three Men’s Teams to NCAA Championships - The Big Ten Conference will be well represented at this year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships. A record six women’s teams are among the 31 teams entered. Five of those six teams, including No. 9 Minnesota, are ranked in the top 10 in the FinishLynx National Coaches Poll. Three Big Ten men’s teams will compete in the NCAA meet.
• Six Gopher Women Earn All-Region Honors - Emily Brown, Ladia Albertson-Junkans, Jamie Cheever, Gabriele Anderson, Elizabeth Yetzer and Amy Laskowske earned all-region honors as Minnesota placed second.

NCAA Cross Country Championships
The Minnesota women’s cross country team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, Nov. 20. The women’s 6-kilometer begins at 11 a.m. (CT).

The NCAA Field
Thirty-one (31) teams will compete in the NCAA Championships, 18 of them, including Minnesota, having earned automatic berths in the NCAA field by placing in the top two of last weekend’s region championships. The NCAA field is completed by 13 at-large teams and 38 individual student-athletes who advanced with top regional finishes.

Big Ten Sends a Record Six Teams to NCAAs
The Big Ten Conference will be represented by six teams at the NCAA Championships, four of them (Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin) who earned automatic berths. Michigan and Iowa were at-large selections.

Another Big Ten First - Five Teams in Top 10
Minnesota at No. 9 is one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the top 10 in the Finish/Lynx Coaches National Poll. Michigan State tops the list at No. 4, jumping from No. 11 after wining the Great Lakes regional. Illinois is No. 5, up from No. 13 with a Midwest Region victory. Wisconsin is ranked No. 8 and Michigan completes the list at No. 10. Iowa is also ranked at No. 24.

NCAA Championships Women’s Preview
Stanford is the defending champion and also the team that has held the No. 1 ranking all season. The Cardinal return every runner from their 2005 championship team, including six All-Americans. Arkansas and North Carolina State are ranked second and third.
Minnesota at the NCAA Championships

Minnesota will make its 10th appearance in the NCAA Cross Country Championships and second consecutively. The Golden Gophers posted their highest finish in school history a year ago, placing ninth. Ladia Albertson-Junkans and Emily Brown earned All-America honors in 2005, marking the first time in school history that the Gophers celebrated two All-Americans in the same season.

The Golden Gophers
Minnesota heads into the NCAA Championships with two returning All-Americans to pace the way. Ladia Albertson-Junkans placed 21st last season in a school-record time of 20:19.3. Emily Brown also ran below the previous school record and collected All-America honors with a 29th-place showing in 20:26.5. The remaining Gophers in the lineup will be running in their first national meet.

The Golden Gopher Lineup
Seven Golden Gophers will compete at the NCAA Championships. Megan Duwell will travel to the NCAA meet as an alternate. Following is a list of Minnesota entries and a listing of any previous experience at the national meet.
Gabriele Anderson (So., Perham, Minn./Perham)
Ladia Albertson-Junkans (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater)
2005 - 21st, 20:19.3
Emily Brown (Sr., West Allis, Wis./Nathan Hale)
2005 - 29th, 20:26.5
Jamie Cheever (R-Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest)
Heather Dorniden (R-Fr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount)
Megan Duwell (R-Fr., West Bend, Wis./West Bend West) - alternate
Amy Laskowske (Fr., Palatine, Ill./Palatine)
Elizabeth Yetzer (Fr., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North)

The Gopher Coaching Staff
Golden Gopher head women’s cross country coach Gary Wilson is in his 22nd season at Minnesota. Wilson has guided the Gophers to eight NCAA Championships appearances, including a streak of five straight from 1997 to 2001, and a school-best ninth-place finish in 2005. Sarah Hesser is in her second season as the Gophers’ volunteer assistant coach.