Tina Muir Chosen As USTFCCCA All-American

Big Rapids, Mich. - Junior Tina Muir (St. Albans, United Kingdom) of the Ferris State University women's cross country team capped off a steallar season by officially being named recently to the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II All-America Team following her performance in the 2009 NCAA-II National Championships held Nov. 21 in Evansville, Ind.

Muir claimed All-America accolades for the second consecutive campaign with her second-straight 12th-place performance at the national meet as the Bulldogs ran to a 11th-place team finish while tying for the second-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 Evansville for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on the USI Cross Country Course. The top 40 were chosen as USTFCCCA All-Americans.

The Bulldogs were led at the national championships by Muir, who completed the 6K course in a time of 21:11.0.  A total of 184 women's runners took part in the national race with Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler winning the individual title for the third year in a row as she was timed in 20:22.6 on the day.  Muir, who was this year's NCAA-II Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year by virtue of her regional individual championship performance, had won all five of her races this season prior to the national championships and was also selected as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Runner of the Year after winning the conference title.

Muir also earned All-America honors at the national championships last season, becoming only the second All-American in Bulldog women's cross country history.  Her showing at this year's national championships matched her performance of a year ago as FSU's highest finisher ever at the national championships.

This year represented only the fourth time in history the Bulldog women's cross country team had qualified as a team for the national championships as last year's berth was the program's first appearance since 1987. Ferris claimed Great Lakes Regional crowns in both 1981 and 1987 to advance to the NCAA-II Championships where they placed eighth and 11th overall, respectively. In 2008, the Bulldogs placed 17th as a team at nationals.

While the All-America honor may have capped off an outstanding collegiate cross country season for Muir, it wasn't the end of her fall running season.  This past Saturday (Nov. 28), she returned to England were she placed eighth overall in the under 23 division running an 8.1k under muddy conditions at the prestigious European trials in Liverpool.