Nov. 23, 2008

HOUSTON--University of Houston cross-country freshman Stephanie Aldea will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. Monday to compete 2008 Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships with 37 other qualifiers. The meet will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.

At the Johnny Morriss Invitational (Aug. 29), Aldea started the year off with a first-place finish. She finished in the Top Five of every race this season until finishing ninth at the Conference USA Championships. There, she was the first female in the program's history to be named C-USA Freshman of the Year. She also received All-Conference USA First Team honors for her finish.

Aldea advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing 21st at the South Central Regional .02 seconds in front of Elizabeth Slaughter (Texas A&M).

She was also honored as a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region Team for her Top 25 finish at the regional.

Aldea becomes the first female individual to qualify in the program's history since 1994 when Christy Bench finished ninth at the District VI Regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships where she finished 94th.

Only four female individuals have qualified for nationals in the program's history, including two team qualifications in 1983 and 1984.

The NCAA Championships will begin with the women's race at approximately 11:00 a.m. (CT), followed by the men's race at 11:48 a.m.

Both championship races will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network and streamed online via NCAA.com.