Jan. 22, 2007

OLATHE, Kan. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has awarded Kenosha, Wis., with the 2007 and 2008 NAIA Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships. Both championships will run at the Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course on Nov. 17, 2007, as the Men's National Championship will run for the 52^nd straight year while the Women's title race will be the 27^th Annual National Championship event. The events scheduled for 2008 are slated for Nov. 22, 2008.

The 2007 and 2008 events will take place on one of the nation's only pure cross country courses. Kenosha, with its long-standing history as a community that embraces the sport, has hosted 26 NAIA National Championship Cross Country events.

"The Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is very excited to develop a mutually beneficial partnership with the NAIA," said Mary Smith, Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau President. "We share the common goal of providing quality championship events for student-athletes traveling to the Kenosha Area."

Kenosha, which hosted four NAIA championship races from 1976 to 1979 and 22 more title races between 1981 and 2002, is one of six cities to host the event. Other cities that have hosted NAIA Cross Country National Championships include: Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Liberty, Mo.; Salina, Kan.; and most recently, Louisville, Ky. The NAIA has conducted the men's championship since the inaugural 1955 first race in Salina, Kan.

"The NAIA is extremely excited to carry on the tradition of its cross country championships in a city like Kenosha that truly rallies behind the sport. NAIA student-athletes, coaches and fans will enjoy the unique race setting in Kenosha as well as the professionalism with which the event will be conducted," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. "The national championship race boasts talent from across the country and brings a level of excitement to collegiate cross country not only for the participants but for the greater Kenosha Area."

More than 100,000 athletes have raced Kenosha's top-notch championship course, which challenges runners with its winding trails and undulating hills. Spectators can stay in place while watching runners pass multiple points on the course, which is self-contained on the campus of Wisconsin-Parkside.

In the 2006 championship, the Simon Fraser University (B.C.) women claimed their fourth consecutive title while Virginia Intermont College claimed its third consecutive men's crown at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. 

To learn more about the 2007 and 2008 Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship log onto www.naia.org. For information on the host community of Kenosha and the Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course, visit www.kenoshacvb.com.