12/4/07 - EUGENE – At this Wednesday’s track and field town hall meeting, the Eugene-Springfield community is welcomed to personally congratulate the University of Oregon’s cross country teams that dominated the recent NCAA Championships.

The NCAA champion men’s team and NCAA runner-up women’s team will be on hand at the monthly meeting scheduled for 7-8 p.m., Wednesday, December 5.

To accommodate the large number of athletes and attendees, the event will be held in a slightly different location than normal, the ground-level Bonus Room at the Student Recreation Center on campus, and accessible by the intramural fields entrance next to the Bowerman Building (at Hayward Field).

Also on hand will be two key organizers for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, Tom Jordan and Barbara Kousky. The events planners from the local Northwest Event Management agency will provide details about housing during the event and also give an update on tickets.

There is no charge for admission, and refreshments and door prizes will be available.

The men’s team recently won its fifth NCAA cross country team title in history and first since 1977, while the Duck women’s runner-up finish was its highest since its win in 1998.

Five Duck men were tabbed All-Americans based on their NCAA Championships performances – juniors Galen Rupp (second) and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (ninth), sophomores Diego Mercado (30th) and Kenny Klotz (37th), and redshirt freshman Daniel Mercado (41st). The UO women sported two All-Americans of their own – sophomore Nicole Blood (eighth) and freshman Alexandra Kosinski (13th) – while freshman Zoe Buckman also finished top 40 (39th).

After Wednesday’s meeting, the next town hall meeting is scheduled for January 8. The regularly scheduled community forum is intended to invite area residents to discuss and promote all the track and field happenings in Eugene.

For more information, call the University of Oregon Track and Field office at (541) 346-2260.