The UA women's basketball program has signed guard Ashley Whisonant to a National Letter-of-Intent, head coach Joan Bonvicini announced yesterday. Whisonant, who will join the Wildcats for the 2004-05 season, completes the list of early signees this fall.

A native of Bowie, Md., Whisonant is a 5-foot-8 swing guard for St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. A two-time Street & Smith's honorable mention All-American, Whisonant was a first team All-WCAC selection and a fourth team All-Metro DC choice last season. She averaged 12.4 points, 6.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game as a junior.

Heading into the 2003-04 season, Whisonant is ranked No. 64 out of the top 100 point guards in the nation by All-Star Girls Report.

"Ashley is an excellent ball-handler and a good perimeter shooter. She's very quick and could play the one or the two for us," Bonvicini said. "She comes from a great program, and we are fortunate to sign a player like her.

The 22nd-ranked Wildcats will open their 2003-04 slate on Saturday at home against Northern Arizona at 2 p.m. in McKale Center.

Men's cross country gets at-large invite to NCAA Championships

The Arizona's men's cross country team was awarded an at-large bid Monday to the 2003 Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships. The team was invited to the meet after a third-place finish at the NCAA West Regional on November 15.

The Wildcats will be among 31 teams to compete at the NCAA Championships in Waterloo, Iowa on Monday. The meet will take place at the Irv G. Warren Golf Course, with the men's 10K championship race scheduled to start at 11 a.m. central time.

The squad was one of 13 teams to receive an at-large bid to this year's championships. Five other teams from the West Region, as well as three other Pacific 10 Conference teams, will join the Wildcats. Stanford and Cal Poly earned the automatic bids at the NCAA West Regional Championships on Nov. 15. Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Portland received at-large bids.