Nov. 16, 2008

It was officially announced on Sunday that the University of Dayton will be represented by both Chris and Matt Lemon at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships. For UD, this will be the first time any cross country runner will be competing at the national meet.

The event, which will take place next Monday, is to be held at the campus course of Indiana State University. The Lemon brothers will be familiar with the course, having participated in the NCAA Pre-National Meet on Oct. 18 at the very same location.

Chris earned his automatic bid after finishing third overall at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships this past Saturday. Matt, who finished 14th overall at the race, earned a spot after both Butler and Notre Dame were selected as at-large representatives from the Great Lakes region.

Out of the region, four teams were selected to participate. Wisconsin and Michigan earned automatic bids as the top two finishers, while Notre Dame and Butler were picked by the NCAA as at-large representatives.

The selection process then admits the top four individuals who were not a part of a qualifying team. In the Great Lakes region, those runners were the Lemon brothers as well as Pat Sovacool of Miami and Scott Keeney of Indiana State.

After a successful regular season, the Dayton duo, aside from making mere UD history, will be gunning for All-American status in Terra Haute, Ind. next Monday at 10 a.m.