#8 William and Mary Men's Cross Country Heads to Southeast Regional on Saturday

Tribe Looking to Win Back-to-Back Titles for First Time in Almost 40 Years

11/13/09 10:08PM

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary will aim for its 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday morning, when the Tribe toes the starting line at the Southeast Region Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. The starting gun goes off at 10 a.m.

Season Results
Spider Alumni Open
Colonial Inter-Regional Challenge
OSU Cowboy Jamboree
Pre-National White Race
Pre-National Open Race
Tribe Open
CAA Championships

What's At Stake
The top two teams in the region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on November 23. After the 18 automatic bids are determined (nine regions), then the selection committee weighs every team in the nation and selects 13 on an at-large basis. Once all the teams are decided, then the top four individuals in each region not already going to nationals are given automatic bids, with another two selected at-large on a national basis.

Sprints to the Finish
- William and Mary is ranked eighth in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA Poll, the best poll position in school history. The Tribe has spent most of the season in the top-10, after upsetting then-No. 2 Oklahoma State on October 3.

- In its last race, on October 31, the Tribe won its 10th-consecutive CAA title as junior Brian Sklodowski (Newark, Del.) won his first individual conference title. Six runners for the College finished in the top-nine to earn all-conference accolades.

- Even more impressively, there will be as many as five runners wearing Green and Gold tomorrow who were training on the conference weekend and did not help the Tribe to the win.

- Junior Jon Grey (Lancaster, Pa.) won two Runner of the Week accolades this season, after leading the Tribe at both the OSU Cowboy Jamboree and Pre-National Invitational.

- Redshirt-freshman Alex McGrath (Marlborough, N.H.) was also named Runner of the Week, following his season-opening effort at the Spider Alumni Open, and Skeeter Morris (Burkeville, Va.) earned the honor after finishing fifth at the Colonial Inter-Regional.

- Tribe runners have won the region title four times - Matt Lane '01 won the Southeast Region in both 1997 and 1999, Hal Michael '71 was the Region III champ in 1969, and Sean Graham '03 was the Southeast champion in 2001.

- W&M will be looking for its 10th regional crown this weekend, and with a win, will own back-to-back region titles for the first time since 1970-71.

1965 - Region III - 2nd (37 points)
1966 - Region III - 1st (38 points)
1967 - Region III - 1st (47 points)
1968 - Region III - 2nd
1969 - Region III - 2nd (91 points)
1970 - Region III - 1st (44 points)
1971 - Region III - 1st (38 points)
1972 - District III - 2nd (91 points)
1973 - District III - 1st (72 points)
1974 - District III - 8th (167 points)
1975 - District III - No team score, one all-region
1976 - District III - 9th, one all-region
1977 - District III - 12th
1978 - District III - One individual
1979 - District III - 17th
1980 - District III - Not attended
1981 - District III - Not Attended
1982 - District III - Not Attended
1983 - District III - Not Attended
1984 - District III - One all-region
1985 - District III - One all-region
1986 - District II - Not Attended
1987 - District II - Two individuals
1988 - District II - 12th (343 points), one all-region
1989 - District II - 6th (236 points)
1990 - Region II - 1st (82 points), three all-region
1991 - Region II - 5th (127 points), three all-region
1992 - Region II - 13th (394 points)
1993 - Region II - 9th, one all-region
1994 - Region II - 4th (142 points), one all-region
1995 - Region II - 3rd (188 points), two all-region
1996 - Region II - 7th (156 points), two all-region
1997 - Southeast Region - 2nd (80 points), four all-region
1998 - Southeast Region - 4th (135 points), three all-region
1999 - Southeast Region - 2nd (69 points), five all-region
2000 - Southeast Region - 1st (49 points), seven all-region
2001 - Southeast Region - 2nd (72 points), four all-region
2002 - Southeast Region - 2nd (77 points), five all-region
2003 - Southeast Region - 3rd (94 points), four all-region
2004 - Southeast Region - 2nd (99 points), four all-region
2005 - Southeast Region - 1st (68 points), five all-region
2006 - Southeast Region - 2nd (70 points), five all-region
2007 - Southeast Region - 3rd (74 points), four all-region
2008 - Southeast Region - 1st (66 points), five all-region

- The College is one of just five schools to attend every NCAA Championship since 1997, sharing the honor with national powerhouses Stanford, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Arkansas. Overall, the Tribe has been represented either by a team or individuals in 32 of the 45 years since 1963.

1963 - 17th (447 points)
1964 - 20th (500 points)
1965 - One individual
1966 - 18th (380 points)
1967 - One individual
1968 - 15th (320 points)
1969 - Hal Michael 7th (All-American)
1970 - 10th (366 points)
1971 - 17th (407 points)
1972 - 11th (325 points)
1973 - 4th (174 points), Bill Louv 19th (All-American)
1975 - 23rd (533 points), Mac Collins 40th (All-American)
1976 - One individual
1984 - Ken Halla 36th (All-American)
1985 - Ken Halla 18th (All-American)
1988 - One individual
1990 - 15th (325 points), Paul Vandegrift 20th (All-American)
1991 - Two individuals, Steve Swift 33rd (All-American)
1994 - 18th (378 points)
1995 - 17th (398 points)
1997 - 9th (274 points), Matt Lane 16th (All-American)
1998 - 13th (375 points), Matt Lane 11th (All-American)
1999 - 13th (371 points), Matt Lane 5th (All-American)
2000 - 10th (363 points), Ed Moran 32nd (All-American)
2001 - 16th (420 points)
2002 - 14th (407 points), Ed Moran 30th (All-American)
2003 - 31st (849 points)
2004 - DNF*, Christo Landry 38th (All-American)
2005 - 22nd (518 points)
2006 - 8th (292 points), Christo Landry 34th (All-American)
2007 - 15th (432 points), Christo Landry 13th (All-American)
2008 - 16th (412 points)
* - Six runners started, only four finished due to food poisoning

- The Tribe has won 32 conference titles in the past 54 years, 15 in the Southern Conference and 17 in the CAA. In the same era, 32 athletes have claimed individual crowns, 17 in the Southern Conference and 15 in the CAA.

- W&M led all league schools this August with 15 runners being named to the CAA 25th Anniversary Cross Country team.

Matt Lane '01 - 11-time All-American, 1998 & 1999 CAA Champion
Paul Vandegrift '92 - 7-time All-American, 1990 CAA Champion
Ken Halla '86 - 4-time All-American, 1985 CAA Champion
Ed Moran '03 - 4-time All-American, 2002 & 2003 CAA Champion
Brian Hyde '96 - 3-time All-American, 1996 Olympian, 1992 & 1994 CAA Champion
Christo Landry '08 - 3-time All-American, 2007 CAA Champion
Steve Swift '94 - 2-time All-American, 1993 CAA Champion
Sean Graham '03 - All-American, 2001 CAA Champion
Kevin Krause '92 - 1991 CAA Champion, 3-time All-CAA
Matt Keally '06 - 2004 CAA Champion, 4-time All-CAA
Mike Brown '98 - 1994 CAA Rookie of the Year, 4-time All-CAA
Jeff Hedley '06 - 3-time All-Southeast, 4-time All-CAA
Howard Townsend '98 - 4-time All-CAA
Jacob Frey '03 - 2-time All-Southeast, 3-time All-CAA
Charlie Hurt '05 - 2-time All-Southeast, 3-time All-CAA