Horizon League Moments: Butler Takes Fourth at NCAAs

Note: With the Horizon League celebrating the 10th anniversary of its name change, the League will be looking back at 10 significant moments from the last 10 years. 

Before the Butler men's basketball team was competing for national championships, its cross country program put itself on the national stage. In the middle of a 13-year run of Horizon League cross country titles, the Butler men's cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2004, turning attention to the school on the northside of Indianapolis.

Both the Butler men and women's teams qualified for the NCAA Championships, with the women taking 31st despite losing top runner (and future Olympian) Victoria Mitchell to injury in the Great Lakes Regional. The Butler men, led by Olly Laws, put four of its five scored runners in the top 50 of the championship; Laws would take All-America honors with a 13th-place result after covering the 10,000 meter course in 31:25.

The hilly LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind., was challenging, but Butler was up to the task, as Scott Overall took 18th, followed by Nick Goodlifffe in 42nd. Thomas Frazer was right behind Goodliffe in 45th; the 2004 Horizon League Cross Country Athlete of the Year, Andrew Sherman, was Butler's final scorer, placing 115th.

With 243 points, Butler took fourth behind Colorado (90), Wisconsin (94) and Arkansas (202). However, the Bulldogs' performance turned heads throughout the grounds, as head coach Joe Franklin was named the men's cross country National Coach of the Year following the championship.