Cross country competes in NCAA Championships today

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior distance runner Micheil Jones (left) and senior distance runner Abdi Abdirahman run in a track meet last spring at Roy P. Drachman Stadium. Jones and Abdirahman are two of the Wildcats competing in Lawerence, Kan., today at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The UA women automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships by virtue of their win at regionals. The UA men, after finishing in a tie for fourth place at regionals, were able to garner an at-large bid from the NCAA selection committee.

After upsetting heavily-favored Stanford at regionals, the UA women's team seems poised for a strong performance in Kansas. Senior Amy Skieresz enters the race as a favorite to win and is coming off first place finishes in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships and the NCAA Regional Championships.

Freshman Tara Chaplin finished second at the NCAA Pre-Meet in October, which was held on the same course as today's meet, and looks to bounce back from a 14th place performance at regionals.

Junior Kristen Parrish, senior Brooke Murphy and junior Claire Becker complete the roster that looks to upset top-ranked Brigham Young.

The Wildcat men will once again be led by senior Abdi Abdirahman, who has brought home individual titles in consecutive meets at the Pac-10s and regionals.

"I can't wait until Monday," Abdirahman said. "At nationals you run your race and you don't let anybody else influence your running."

Rounding out a strong men's squad will be freshman Steve Smith, sophomore David Lopez and juniors Micheil Jones and Jeremy Lyon.

Lopez ran to a 19th place performance at regionals in Fresno, Calif., followed by Smith in 26th and Lyons in 42nd.

Jones did not finish the race after dropping out after the 3-mile mark with flu-like symptoms.

"I'm definitely looking to bounce back after not finishing the race last week," Jones said.

He said the team remains enthusiastic about the today's meet and is appreciative of its bid to the NCAA Championship.

"We are really excited about nationals," he said. "We got a scare almost not qualifying and it made us appreciate going a little bit more."

Lyon remarked that the team has been training hard and added that the NCAA Championship is the meet that has been on the runners' minds throughout the season.

"We're ready, this is what we've trained and worked hard for all season," he said.

The meet will be run on the same course that hosted the NCAA Pre-Meet and features grassy farmland interrupted by rolling hills. At the NCAA Pre-Meet, the women finished second, and the men placed fourth.

"This is definitely a strength course," Parrish said. "There are some pretty good hills and you need to know when to surge."

The women's 5,000-meter race will begin at 10:30 a.m. today, and the men's 10,000m race will follow at 11:30.

Brian Wahlund can be reached via e-mail at Brian.Wahlund@wildcat.arizona.edu.