LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The No. 16 Lock Haven University men’s cross country team is set to take part in the 2008 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships.

The Meet:

The NCAA D-II XC Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 22 at Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pa. Slippery Rock University is the host institution for the championships. The men will race (10K) goes off at noon on Saturday, with the women’s championship (6K) to follow at 1:15 p.m.

The top-7:

The Haven will be represented by Tim Getz (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasbury), Nick Hilton (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township), Brandon Pomerantz (Holland, Pa./Council Rock North), AJ Johnson (Coventry, R.I./Coventry), Jed Yeatts (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan), Justin Amy (Sweet Valley, Pa./Lehman and Mitch Miller (Morrisville, N.Y./Morrisville-Eaton). The Bald Eagles alternate is Sean Craig (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale).

How they got here:

The Bald Eagles earned a spot in the NCAA Championship meet by way of their NCAA D-II Atlantic Region Championship. Lock Haven improved a on a third-place showing at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship to take home the regional crown. LHU was led by dominating performance by its top-five runners, all of whom earned All-Region honors. LHU took home first place with 51 points, 20 points better than second-place Edinboro.

Dominating 1-2 punch:

All season long LHU has been led by the dominating 1-2 punch of a duo of sophomores that comes in the form of Getz and Hilton. The trend doesn’t look to fade this weekend as the two will be a huge key for LHU’s success.

Top five the key:

At the Region Championships, LHU put their top five in the top 15. Lock Haven head coach Aaron Russell will need those five to step up again this weekend. Getz, Hilton, Pomerantz, Johnson and Yeatts all finished in the top-15 at the Region Championships on this same SRU course and will need to take it up another level this weekend for the crimson and white. Russell knows that Pomerantz and Miller can be right up there with Getz and Hitlon as will Johnson and Yeatts as the four will look to strengthen LHU’s chances. Amy adds a strong seventh runner to The Haven’s potent lineup.

Abundance of youth:

Despite their strong season so far this year it looks as though things can only go up for the Bald Eagles, who are very young. Their lineup at the National Championships will be made up of some youthful forms that have coach Russell very excited about the future. Five sophomores are part of the eight runners traveling to Western, Pa. this weekend. The other three are made up of two juniors and one true-freshman.

Bald Eagles have been here before:

The Bald Eagles have been here before and in their last appearance may have come one of the best individual running performances ever in crimson and white. Ryan Blood capped off his remarkable LHU cross country career at the NCAA Championship in 2006. Blood took fourth overall, earning All-American honors in Pensacola, Fla. As a team LHU finished 11th in ’06. The Haven’s highest finish came in 2005, when Lock Haven was ninth. LHU was 10th in 2005. In 2004, Lock Haven was led by the duo of Chris Cowan (29th) and Joe Wiegner (34th), who both earned All-American stats in Edwardsville, Ind.

Goals

Russell feels his team is certainly capable of a top-15 finish, but knows he guys want to go after a top-eight spot. He feels that they guys are ready for this course and he’s looking forward to seeing them go after it this weekend.

Check back for updates (HavenSports.com).

For the official tournament website visit the following link.