LARAMIE, Wyo. (November 15, 2018) – For the first time since 1986, the Cowboys' cross country team will race together at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. The race is hosted by Wisconsin on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Saturday, Nov. 17. The men's 10-kilometer race is slated for 10:45 a.m. (MT). The Cowboys earned an at-large bid following a tremendous regular season.
 
"The goal has been to get to the national meet," said men's cross country coach Scott Dahlberg. "In the middle of the season, we realized it was a good reality, and so I think the guys are in a good mentality where they know it's a good accomplishment, but we want to go and take care of business and perform the best we can. The name of the game right now is recovery and get ready for another 10k on Saturday."
 
This is the seventh time in school history the Cowboys will run as a team at the national championships. In 1986, the Pokes took 16^th overall with 345 points. John Wodny earned the first of two career All-American honors, as he placed 15^th overall. Solomon Chebor has the best individual finish for the Cowboys at the NCAA National Championships, as he placed sixth overall in 1977 to lead the Cowboys to a third-place team finish.
 
Recently, Mark Korir placed 19^th in 2007 for the top finish for a Cowboy since Ryan Bolton was 12^th in 1995. The Cowboys have had eight different runners earn All-American honors 10 times, with Korir and Wodny being the only two-time All-Americans.
 
This season has been strong from start to finish for the Cowboys, as they pulled off a pair of upsets over then-No. 7 Colorado and then No. 16 Air Force in their season-opening meet. Paul Roberts won the race in his first meet as a Cowboy, setting off what would be a stellar junior campaign in the Brown and Gold. Roberts won a pair of Mountain West Athlete of the Week honors during the regular season.
 
At the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational, the Cowboys placed second as a team, and finished ahead of now No. 10 Notre Dame and then No. 28 Furman. Roberts placed third overall, while fellow junior Christopher Henry enjoyed a top-10 finish, as he crossed the line in eighth.
 
The Cowboys earned the attention of the nation after a complete team performance at the Pre-National race, held on the very course they will run this weekend. The Cowboys placed fifth – their best ever finish at a Pre-Nationals race – and finished ahead of six nationally-ranked teams. In the next set of national rankings, the Cowboys jumped from unranked to No. 13 in their first appearance in the poll in program history.
 
At the Mountain West Championships, Roberts claimed the individual title to lead the Pokes to a fourth-place finish as a team. Roberts was named first-team all-MW and the MW Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Joining Roberts with post-race accolades, Henry and junior Harry Ewing were both named second-team all-MW. Two weeks later at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, the Cowboys placed sixth to tie their best finish all-time at that race, while Roberts, Henry and Ewing were named all-region performers.
 
The following day, the Cowboys earned an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championships. This season has been building to this race, and the Cowboys are excited to represent Wyoming on the national stage.