Nov. 24, 2008

NCAA National Championships - Men's Team Results

NCAA National Championships - Men's Individual Results

Terre Haute, Ind. - The University of Tulsa's 17th-ranked men's cross country team claimed a school record 13th-place finish at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind. Junior John Beattie earned All-America honors with a 29th-place finish in the men's 10K with a personal-best time of 30:05.

Beattie became the first male cross country athlete in school history to be named an All-American.

"John (Beattie) ran a very good race," Head Coach Steve Gulley said. "He made a huge jump from where he finished a year ago. Last year he came in 127th and today he was 29th. He has improved so much over this past year it's amazing."

Tulsa placed four runners in the top half of the 251-runner field with Mark Davidson finishing 87th in 30:48, Lewis Timmins claiming 103rd in 30:57 and Kyle Dekker placing 109th in 30:59.

"I'm very proud of this team," Gulley said. "We went in and ran an aggressive race. The experience of coming here and racing a year ago really showed up today. This team should be proud of themselves coming in here ranked No. 17 and finishing 13th."

The Hurricane wrapped up the season with several school-bests including their first Conference USA Championship, highest finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals (third), highest national ranking (No. 15), most consecutive weeks nationally ranked (seven), most All-Region selections (five) and highest finish at the NCAA National Championships.

Tulsa returns six of its top seven runners next season.