RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University sophomore James Mutuse qualified for Monday's (Nov. 22) NCAA Cross Country Championships in Bloomington, IN, last weekend by virtue of his eighth place finish at the NCAA District III Meet at Furman University in Greenville, SC.

Mutuse, who came to EKU this year from Nairobi, Kenya, ran the 10,000-meters in 30:09 to lead Eastern to its tie for fifth place in the team standings with 180 points. North Carolina State won the men's competition with its team score of 40.

Also scoring for Eastern, who two weeks earlier had captured the Ohio Valley Conference championship, were David Kabata (25^th), Mohammed Khayr (27^th), Sota Ogawa (49^th) and Gary Garman (71^st).

In women's competition at the District III meet at Furman, Eastern finished eighth with an overall team score of 275. UNC-Charlotte won this meet with a tally of 66 points.

Senior Theresa Olsen led Eastern with her 30^th place finish in a time of 18:18. Other EKU runners and their places were Jenni Brown (51^st), Heather Davel (53^rd), Celestina Ogbolugo (57^th) and Jennifer Wheeler (84^th).

"We were relatively pleased with the performance of both teams, but, looking at it more closely, some runners ran well, while others could have done better," said EKU head cross country/track coach Rick Erdmann.

Eastern's women's cross country team captured its 18^th consecutive OVC championship in late October.