Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams received one of the 13 at-large bids for their respective NCAA tournaments, which will take place in Lawrence, Kan., beginning Monday, Nov. 23.
The men’s team finished third last weekend at the NCAA District V meet, while the women finished third at the Midwest Regional. A second-place finish would have earned automatic bids, but both teams were ranked in the top 25 nationally and were virtually guaranteed an NCAA invitation.
“This return trip to nationals is a testament to the hard work and dedications of this team,” women’s coach Gary Wilson said.
The women’s team’s leading candidate for individual honors is junior Rasa Michniovaite, the Midwest Regional champion. The men are led by junior Eric Pierce, who finished seventh at the District V championships.

Mistaken identity
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The mistaken arrest of Hampton’s coach, her husband and an assistant coach led to the cancellation of Tuesday night’s game against No. 12 Texas Tech, the schools said.
Coach Patricia Bibbs, her husband Ezell Bibbs and assistant coach Vanetta Kelso were taken to jail Monday night after shopping at WalMart.
Hampton said in a news release that the three were falsely arrested because of mistaken identity. School officials said Kelso, who is pregnant, was traumatized and required medical attention.
Due to the incident, the coaches and team weren’t physically or emotionally prepared for the game, the school said.
The District Attorney’s office issued a letter to Hampton saying, “the above mentioned individuals have not been charged with any criminal offense at this time and they are free to leave Lubbock County.”
No charges would be filed, the district attorney said.
Dr. Dennis Thomas, Hampton’s director of athletics, said there was no other recourse than to cancel the game.
“We regret that this game had to be canceled. … Our women’s basketball team had looked forward to playing Texas Tech because they are one of the top women’s basketball programs in the country,” Thomas said.