It looks like the Iowa State men’s and women’s cross country teams will run on their home course for the National Championships after all.

Both teams qualified by finishing in second place at their respective regionals at Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday. The NCAA Championships will be held on Monday, Nov. 20, at the on-campus course at the corner of Hayward and Mortensen.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited [about qualifying for nationals], I can’t believe it,” said sophomore Stacey Armstrong. “Last year we were nowhere near to qualifying for nationals.”

The Cyclone women were led by freshman Jana Peterson’s third place finish. Peterson finished the 5,000 meter race at 17:59.70, nine seconds behind the winner.

Sydney Pounds and Stacey Armstrong also had strong races for the Cyclones, finishing fifth and seventh respectively.

Armstrong said the women haven’t qualified for nationals in five years. None of the runners on this year’s squad have run at nationals.

“It is going to be a new experience for the team,” Armstrong said. “But we are ready for it and we’re confident going into nationals.”

Qualifying for nationals is nothing new for the men’s squad. The Cyclone men were national champions last season.

“I thought we ran real well considering we didn’t have all our runners,” said men’s coach Bill Bergan.

The Cyclone men competed without Simon O’Connor because of an injury. Also for the men, Saul Patla dropped out of the race because of a calf injury.

Dmitry Drozdov, who finished second, and Corey Ihmels,who came in 14th place, ran their usual strong races, but it was the Cyclones’ fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runners who drew the most praise from their coach. Simeon Wright finished 16th, Justin Gottschalk ran 25th, Kevin Farrow came in the 30th in his first collegiate meet and Matt Thomas finished 32nd.

“These guys came through in the clutch,” Bergan said. “They knew they had to run well for us to qualify for nationals, and they did.”

Bergan did not seem too optimistic about his team’s chances of repeating as national champions.

“It’s going to real difficult right now,” he said. “When the season got started we thought we had a realistic chance of winning nationals, but with all of the injuries we have had, it has forced us to change our expectations.”

The Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau has put together a ticket package for the NCAA Championships. The package, which costs $20, includes five tickets, a VIP parking pass and coupons for free hot chocolate and coffee. Packets may be obtained by stopping at the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau at 213 Duff Ave. or calling 232-4032.