Good news came in the form of a phone call for SIUC’s men’s cross-country team Monday.

At approximately 2:00 p.m., coach Bill Cornell was informed that his team had qualified for a spot at the NCAA Championship in Ames, Iowa Nov. 20.

Cornell said the call came as one of his runners, senior Neil Lisk, was sitting in his office when the call came.

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Neil was in my office when I heard and he automatically yelled and through his arms up in the air, Cornell said. Then he gave me a hug, and we both had tears in our eyes.

After the team placed third at the District 5 Championship Saturday, Cornell said the team had a good case for being considered for one of the three at-large spots left for teams voted in because of their worthy efforts.

There is nothing we can do about it, he said Sunday. You just got to sit back, and hope they (voters) see it your way,

The top two teams from each district automatically advance to the NCAA Championship, and three spots are left at large for teams who have showed strong competition against top teams and enjoyed a good season.

SIUC’s case for the bid came from its performances against schools like Arizona, Southern Methodist University, James Madison and Kansas.

The Salukis were defeated by Arizona, but won a key victory against SMU. SMU qualified out of District 6, which gave the team a case to be considered for one of the open spots.

I think it came down to us or Arizona, Cornell said. They beat us, but it was before Sept. 23, so you can’t really count that. We beat James Madison, and Arizona hadn’t beat anyone on the bubble. We also beat SMU, and Arizona hadn’t beat anyone who automatically qualified.

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The Dawgs beat out five other teams for the spot, including Arizona:Texas-San Antonio, Brown University, James Madison, and East Tennessee State.

The University of Michigan and Brigham Young University grabbed the other two at-large bids.

Cornell attributes the scheduling for the spot at the NCAA Championships.

Fortunately, we went to the right meets. That’s why we went to places like Fayetteville, Ark., we ran against top teams, and that comes from the scheduling, he said.

Cornell’s team has three freshmen and one junior who will be returning next year, and he said the NCAA Championship will help the team greatly in the upcoming seasons.

The experience will help a lot with three freshman and (junior) Stelios (Marneros) coming back next year, he said. It should help us for the next three years, and I’m hoping it will help in recruiting. With almost 300 teams in Division 1, it gets pretty tough for recruiting.

The overall emotion of the team can be described in one word.

Obviously we’re ecstatic, Cornell said.

Freshmen Joseph and Jeremy Parks and Andrew Fooks were almost glowing at practice Monday.

I’m excited big time, Joseph Parks said. I knew when the season started that we had a good team, but I had no idea we had a chance for the NCAA.

Fooks, like Cornell, could only respond with one word at first, but then elaborated into a full sentence.

Good. I’m looking to place in the top 50 maybe the top three, he said jokingly.

Senior Neil Lisk, who was in Cornell’s office when the call came, said the team has to keep focused and go into the race with a goal.

It’s amazing, but we’ve got to look at it realistically, he said. If we’re in the top 15, we have done good.