Nov. 15, 2000

Men's Cross Country Team Heads to California for Division II Championships

The Truman State University men's cross country team will continue its season on Saturday when it competes at the 43rd Annual Men's NCAA Division II Championships in Pomona, Calif.

Twenty-four men's teams will be competing at the national meet as well as the top two individuals form the eight regions across the country. The men's competition begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the meet, hosted by Cal Poly Pomona.

Truman, ranked 10th in the last Division II poll, is back competing as a team at the championships for the first time since 1996, when the squad finished 11th. Last year, Truman's Andy Doering (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North) went the championships as an individual and earned all-America honors by placing 26th.

Doering, a junior and runner-up at the 2000 MIAA Championships, returns to the championship scene this year as Truman's top runner. He has led the team in each of the six events he's competed in this year and is coming off of an eighth-place finish at the Nov. 4 South Central Regional.

The Bulldogs place third at the regional, led by Doering and junior Ben Rosario (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH), who placed ninth. Freshman Alan Heincker (Dittmer, Mo./Grandview) and junior Matt Helbig (Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit) were 15th and 17th, respectively, at the regional meet held in Commerce, Texas.

The early favorite to win the national championship is another South Central Region representative, top-ranked Abilene Christian (Texas). ACU won the regional two weeks ago by placing all five runners in the top seven. Missouri Southern finished second, one point ahead of Truman, while Central Missouri State placed fourth, five points behind the 'Dogs. All four teams qualified for Saturday's championships. Other top teams competing include No. 2 Western State (Colo.), from the North Central Region, No. 4 Adams State (Colo.), also from the North Central, No. 3 California-Davis, from the West, and No. 5 Edinboro (Pa.), from the East.

In both 1994 and 1995, the Bulldogs finished third at the national meet, but Truman's best finish is a second-place showing at the 1964 championships. That year, current Bulldog coach Ed Schneider was the individual national champion.

Schneider, who has coached the Bulldogs to eight team appearances at the NCAA Championships and three conference titles, will be inducted into the NCAA Division II Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Nov. 17 at a banquet preceding the meet.

Men's Cross Country Releases | Men's Cross Country | Truman Athletics