Muir Claims USTFCCCA All-America Kudos
Big Rapids, Mich. - Senior Tina Muir (St. Albans, U.K.) of the Ferris State University women's cross country team capped off another steallar season by officially being named recently to the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II All-America Team for the third-straight year following her performance in the 2010 NCAA-II National Championships held last Saturday (Dec. 4) in Louisville, Ky.
Muir claimed All-America accolades for the third consecutive campaign with her school-best 11th-place individual performance at the national meet as the Bulldogs ran to a eighth-place team finish while tying for the highest finish in school history.
A combined total of forty-eight men's and women's collegiate teams and nearly 400 runners from across the country gathered in Louisville for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships at E.P "Tom" Sawyer State Park. The top 40 were chosen as USTFCCCA All-Americans in the event held in conjunction with the NCAA-II Fall Sports Festival.
The Bulldogs, who entered the championships ranked eighth in the latest United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Poll, tallied 241 points overall in the 24-team event.
The Bulldogs were led at the national championships by Muir, who took 11th place overall in earning All-America honors for the third-straight year. Muir completed the 6K course in a time of 21:38.3. A total of 187 women's runners took part in the national race with Shippensburg's (Pa.) Neely Spence winning the individual title as she was timed in 20:41.2 on the day. Muir, who was this year's regional champion, had previously placed 12th at nationals each of the last two seasons.
Muir's 11th-place national meet finish this year marks the highest individual finish ever by a Bulldog women's cross country runner in school history. She is one of only two women's cross country All-Americans at FSU and the first three-time honoree.
This year represented only the fifth time in history the Bulldog women's cross country team had qualified as a team for the national championships as their 2008 and 2009 berths were the program's first appearances since 1987.
FSU previously had secured its national championships berth by running to a runner-up team finish in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championships held Nov. 20 on the same course in Louisville. The Bulldogs advanced to the national championships for the third consecutive campaign.
Besides the eighth place national team finish, this year's second-place regional finish under third-year head coach Steve Picucci also represented the program's best showing since claiming the Great Lakes Regional crown in 1987. It is one of the top three regional efforts in school history in addition to the Bulldogs' Great Lakes Regional victory in 1981.
Ferris State's eighth-place performance in the national team race this year matches the Bulldogs' eighth-place finish at the 1981 National Championships.
Please visit this link for the USTFCCCA All-America Team:
http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/all-america-honors-for-2010-division-ii-cross-country-season-released