The ISU men’s and women’s cross country teams will be represented next Monday at the NCAA National Championships by seniors Mike Mwangong and Jessica Huff.

The Cyclone men placed sixth out of 24 teams at regionals last weekend, and only the top two teams qualified for the NCAA National Championship, which will be held at Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s team placed 15th out of a field of 23.

“We were hoping to go to nationals as a team,” Mwangong said.

The men’s regional was won by the University of Iowa, whose five scoring runners all finished in the top 25.

“I knew it was going to be a fast race,” Mwangong said. “I was ready to go physically and mentally.”

Mwangong placed third individually earning him an automatic spot at the national meet. Despite qualifying, Mwangong was disappointed in his finish.

“I wasn’t really happy because I thought that I would win the race,” Mwangong said. “It wasn’t my day.”

This will be Mwangong’s second appearance at the NCAA nationals. Huff will be making her NCAA Championship debut.

“When I finished the race it was like, ‘OK, you probably did it,'” Huff said. “I was excited but I tried not to be too excited because I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

Huff earned an at-large berth by placing sixth at the regional meet despite fighting a cold.

“Physically I wasn’t feeling too well,” Huff said. “Being strong mentally helped me get past it.”

Huff was informed by her coach, Dick Lee, on Monday that she had qualified for the championship meet.

“It still doesn’t feel like it’s happening,” Huff said. “I’m definitely excited.”

Huff and Mwangong both departed Thursday for Terre Haute. Huff said she will spend the weekend doing things outside of the hotel instead of staying cooped up.

“I try not to think about [the race] too much,” Huff said.

Mwangong will be spending his time doing normal workouts.

“The team has been practicing with me,” Mwangong said. “Everyone is still running. It’s not like just because the team didn’t qualify they have stopped running.”

Huff and Mwangong are looking forward to the competition. Facing Big 12 competitors all year has prepared them for tough races.

“It’s an advantage to be in the Big 12,” Huff said. “It’s one of the hardest conferences.”

Mwangong is confident after tough battles he’s gone through with Big 12 opponents.

“I’m not afraid of them — I know that I can run with them,” Mwangong said.

The top 25 Americans in each race earn the title of All-American and Huff hopes to be one of them.

“I’ll probably be running with runners from Missouri, Minnesota and Kansas State,” Huff said.

“I’m hoping to become an All-American. I don’t get scared. We all have two legs, we all run.”

Mwangong said he is also looking to place in the top 25.

“I think I can do it because we have been training tough all year,” Mwangong said. “They will be tough and I will be tough.”

The NCAA Championships will conclude the 2002 cross country season. This meet will be the last of Mwangong’s collegiate cross country career, but he said it won’t be the end of the road.

“It has taught me a lot of things,” Mwangong said. “A lot of discipline.”

Though she is a senior, Huff has one more year of eligibility and will return next year to lead the Cyclone women.

“I’m looking forward to next year,” Huff said. “I’ll just keep getting better and I’ll do good things. I’ll do great things.”