Nov. 14, 2002

Chapel Hill, N.C. -- The University of North Carolina men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Greenville, N.C., for the NCAA District III Championship Saturday, November 16. The Tar Heels will compete against 35 teams, including ACC foes NC State, Wake Forest and Duke, for a spot in the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, Ind., November 25. Junior Shalane Flanagan will try and capture her fourth crown of the season after becoming only the second woman in ACC history (UNC's Karen Godlock 1994-96) to win three straight ACC titles. Flanagan won last year's District III Championship, in Greenville, with a time of 20:26. North Carolina finished second of 26 teams a year ago.

The top two teams at the event will receive an automatic bid for the NCAA Championship eight days later. The top four individuals, on teams that are not in the top two, will also qualify for the championship.

"This is going to be a very exciting race," said coach Whittlesey. "The women's race will have five ACC teams that can finish anywhere from one to five and the men's side has all the top ACC teams competing.

"Our women had some illnesses going into the ACC Championship and they're all rested up and ready to go. For most of men it will be their first trip to the District III Championship."

On the women's side, Carolina will try and make an appearance in its fourth straight NCAA Championship after finishing in the top 10 two of the last three years. Competing for the women at districts will be Liz Awtrey, Flanagan, Erin Donohue, Cassie King, Bobbie Munson, Jessica Perry and Alice Schmidt. Awtrey finished 26th and Donohue 10th at the 2001 Southeast District. The Tar Heels will be without the services of Carol Henry, who has missed the entire season due to an injury. She placed fourth at last year's event.

The men's team has gone 10 years since participating at the NCAA Championship and will try and break that streak this weekend. Brian McGovern is the front-runner for the Tar Heels coming off a 13th-place finish at ACC's. Robert Borbet, Matt Daly, Rob Robertson and Joel Thomas will all be competing in their first District III Championship as well this Saturday.