The Cyclone men’s cross country team can stop holding its breath finally because for the 12th time in 14 seasons, it has earned a berth in the NCAA Championship.

The Cyclones were selected as a wild card team by the NCAA Cross Country Committee on Monday. However, the men will not have too long to catch their breath as the final meet will be run in Furman, S.C., on Nov. 24.

The ISU men were picked to place first or second in Saturday’s Midwest Regional but took fourth place in the frigid weather on their home course.

The top two teams from the race, Oklahoma State and Minnesota, automatically qualified for the NCAA meet. Nebraska, which finished third, also was notified of its berth on Monday.

“I think our overall performance this season earned us this opportunity,” ISU Coach Kevin Bourke said.

“We beat both Oklahoma State and Nebraska at the conference meet and had wins over several ranked teams throughout the fall. We are excited about returning to the NCAA Championship,” he said.

Junior Kevin Farrow, who placed fourth individually at the district meet, was told on Sunday that he would be competing as a wild card runner individually.

However, he also had to wait to see if he and Cyclone Saul Lempirikany would be joined by their fellow long distance teammates.

Lempirikany earned an automatic berth to run individually by placing third overall on Saturday.

Farrow said the chance for the team to “prove our worthiness” to the rest of the country is a great opportunity.

The fact that ISU is a wild card team may also benefit the Cyclone runners, Farrow said.

“There won’t be as much pressure on us,” he said. “Hopefully we can do better than we did last weekend.”

He said the team felt relieved when the athletes received the announcement that their season would continue.

Farrow said the team felt disappointed about Saturday’s results, and this made the team “a bit more upbeat.”

Simeon Wright, a senior from Dubuque, said he and his fellow ‘Clones are very excited about the opportunity to run one more race. He said he was pleasantly surprised by the positive news.

“We’re all really excited to be able to go,” Wright said.

It will be an especially big event for Wright because he will be making his fourth and final trip to the championship race.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “There’s not too many people who get a chance to run four of these.”

Wright also believes the Cyclones may be a dark horse team in the meet. “We have the potential to do very well,” Wright said.