MORROW, Ga. – On August 18, 1997, Clayton State Athletics completed a significant transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The 2017-18 season marked the 20^th anniversary of that accomplishment. Over a seven week span, the Sports Information Office is releasing the top 20 moments in the NCAA era, one on each Monday, Wednesday and Friday with select exceptions.
  The countdown continues with the No. 16 moment, Men's Cross Country Delivers Record Setting 2005 Season.
 
The men's cross country program delivered its first Peach Belt Conference team and individual championships, a third place finish in the South Region meet and first appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championships. In the latter, the Lakers would finish 23^rd overall.
 
Below are the original releases for the PBC Championship (October 22, 2005), NCAA South Region Meet (November 5, 2005) and the preview for the national championships (November 15, 2005).
  Lumberton, N.C. - Clayton State University placed four runners in the top eight, including winner Bobby Valadez to lead the Lakers to the program's first Peach Belt Conference Championship Saturday in Lumberton, N.C. 
 
Clayton State finished with a meet low 31 points in front of UNC Pembroke in second with 49 points and Columbus State University in third with 50 points. On the women's side, Clayton State finished third behind winner Columbus State University and host UNC Pembroke.
 
Valadez won Saturday's meet with a school record time of 24:59.23, 15 seconds head of Columbus State's Moses Kosgei. Behind Valadez, Manuel Aguilar placed third in the meet with a time of 25:36.29, followed by Jose Garduno in fifth with a time of 25:59.74 and Josh Myers in sixth with a time of 26:12.01.
 
All four of Clayton State's top runners were named All-Conference and Valadez was named the Peach Belt Conference Runner of the Year. Head coach Mike Mead was named the men's PBC Coach of the Year - the second time he has received the honor.
 
Clayton State's Pete Gajda rounded out the scoring for the squad, finishing with a time of 28:00.32. Billy Joe Brown placed 36th with a time of 31:03.91.
 
On the women's side, Kreutzer had the top finish for the Lakers, placing third with a time of 18:03.68. Heather Krehbiel placed eighth with a time of 20:14.22. Both Kreutzer and Krehbiel received All-Conference honors.
 
Tanika Smit finished 15th with a time of 21:00.03, followed by Melissa Fernandez with a time of 21:55.18. Katelyn Stache rounded out the scoring for Clayton State in 31st with a time of 22:15.96.
 
Clayton State's women finished with 86 points behind winner Columbus State with 57 points and UNC Pembroke with 81 points. Lander and USC Aiken rounded out the top five. 
  Dade City, Fla. - The Clayton State University men's cross country team placed third Saturday in the NCAA Division II South Region meet, qualifying for the first time in history to compete in the NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships later this month. 
 
The top three teams from the South Region meet qualified for national meet. Gulf South Conference champion Harding won the meet with 32 points, followed by Sunshine State Conference champion Florida Southern with 78 points and Clayton State, the Peach Belt Conference champion with 101 points. West Florida and Central Arkansas rounded out the top five with 107 points and 209 points, respectively. 
 
Junior Bobby Valadez and senior Jose Garduno had the top finishes for the Lakers each receiving All-Region honors. Valadez finished fifth in the meet with a time of 33:44 on the 10K course, while Garduno placed 14th with a time of 35:06. 
 
Senior Manuel Aguilar and sophomore Josh Myers placed 19th and 20th in the race, respectively with times of 35:35 and 35:36. Sophomore Peter Gajda rounded out the scoring for Clayton State with a time of 37:19 to place 48th. Freshman Billy Joe Brown finished 118th with a time of 43:31. 
 
On the women's side, Clayton State finished 13^th as a team but did have a top five individual performance with sophomore Allison Kreutzer finishing fourth in the race. The finish qualified her for the national meet as an individual for the second straight season. 
 
Kruetzer, who was the NCAA Division II runner-up last year, finished with a time of 21:36 on the 6K course. Behind Kruetzer, senior Heather Krhebiel finished 45th with a time of 24:53, followed by junior Tanika Smit in 87th with a time of 26:25. 
 
Junior Cassandra Bolivar finished 97th with a time of 26:51, followed by junior Melissa Fernandez rounding out the scoring for Clayton State in 106th with a time of 27:26. 
 
Harding won the women's meet with a team score of 67 points, followed by Tampa with 100 points and Alabama Huntsville with 101 points. 
 
The men's team along with Kreutzer, competing as an individual, will take off next week before traveling to the national meet on November 19^th in Chino, Calif.
  MORROW, Ga. - It's been a roller coaster season for the Clayton State University men's cross country team, but they appear ready for their biggest challenge to date when they compete in Saturday's NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Chino, Calif.  Also ready is women's sophomore runner Allison Kreutzer who hopes for similar success that she experienced at the 2004 NCAA meet in which she finished second.
 
"Our bunch is ready," declared Clayton State head coach Mike Mead. "This is our first shot in the national meet and we want to have a successful experience. By no means do we have a shot at the Top 10, but we can make our mark and try to improve on it in future seasons."
 
The Clayton State cross country program, which will conclude its 11^th season on Saturday, made big gains this season by winning the men's Peach Belt Conference title in October and recorded its highest finish two weeks ago at the NCAA South Regional meet with a third place finish.
 
It's been nine years since the Clayton State men's team last had representation at a national meet when three runners (Danny Brock, Gary Ginn & Tye Walker) ran at the 1996 NAIA national meet in Parkside, Wisconsin.  That same year also marked the last time a Clayton State cross country team ran in a national meet when the women's team finished 28th out of 35 teams.
 
The Lakers will have an edge at the NCAA's since the squad's three fastest guys all hail from the Los Angeles area where the meet will be run. The L.A. trio includes junior Bobby Valadez and seniors Manuel Aguilar and Jose Garduno. Valadez has been a solid leader this season and established several firsts for the squad, including the first to break 25:00 for 8K and the first to win the conference individual title and earn "Runner of the Year" honors.
 
"We're a much better team with Bobby this season," said Mead. "He has a great work ethic and his teammates have responded. He's made better runners out of Manny and Jose and they all come ready to run when it counts."  Both Aguilar and Garduno earned all-conference honors (second time for Aguilar) at the Peach Belt meet, while Garduno and Valadez both earned All-Region honors at the Regional meet.
 
The Lakers have gotten solid running from sophomore transfer Josh Myers (Cochran, Ga.) who placed 20^th at the regional meet as the Lakers' No. 4 man and was an all-conference finisher at the Peach Belt meet. At No. 5 is sophomore Peter Gajda (Mermaid Mist, Australia) who has had some misfortunes this season. Rounding out the squad is freshman walk-on Billy Joe Brown (Locust Grove, Ga.) from Luella High School.
 
"Josh has had a solid runner and the 10K distance suits him better," said Mead. "Peter has had some setbacks that included a broken hand, but he competes when it counts.  He collapsed at the finish line at the region meet to secure our berth to the national meet and had to be hospitalized for a short while afterwards. Billy is adjusting to the transition from high school to college and this rare experience at nationals should fire him up."
 
Kreutzer, the top returning finisher from the 2004 NCAA Championships, may have a tougher time duplicating last year's finish.  In 2004, she finished no worse than second in the cross country meets she competed in, but this season she did not hit the 5K times she ran a year ago.
 
"Alison made some adjustments to her training that affected her racing earlier in the season," said Mead. "To her credit, she finished consistently in the Top 5 of every meet she ran in this fall. We're still going for the win.  We'll just have to see how the field responds to the course on race day and how Allison reacts."
 
Adams State (Colo.) is the pre-meet favorite in both the men's and women's team races.  In-state archrival Western State will be Adams State's biggest threat in the men's race while Grand Valley State (Mich.) will be Adams State's challenge in the women's race. Saturday's meet will be run at Prado Regional Park in Chino, Calif. The women's 6K race will start at 11 a.m. PST, while the men's 10K event follows at 12 noon PST.
 
Schedule of NCAA 20^th Anniversary Countdown Releases
No. 1 (July 11)
No. 2 (July 9)
No. 3 (July 5)
No. 4 (July 2)
No. 5 (June 29)
No. 6 (June 27)
No. 7 (June 25)
No. 8 (June 22)
No. 9 (June 20)
No. 10 (June 18)
No. 11 (June 15)
No. 12 (June 13)
No. 13 (June 11)
No. 14 (June 8)
No. 15 (June 6)
No. 16 Men's Cross Country Delivers Record Setting 2005 Season (June 4)
No. 17 Women's Basketball Wins No. 1 vs. No. 2 Game vs. Lander on February 10, 2011 (June 1)
No. 18 Men's Basketball Wins First Ever PBC Championship in 2001-02 Regular Season Finale (May 30)
No. 19 Women's Cross Country Wins PBC, Heads to 2012 NCAA National Championships (May 28)
No. 20 Women's Tennis Makes NCAA Tournament in 1999 (May 25)