KENNESAW,Ga-  Gearing up for their toughest competition this season, the men’s cross country team is on the road to Louisville, Ky. for the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 2. Hosted by the University of Louisville, the race pits some of the premier teams from across the country against each other.

Just two weeks removed from a fifth place finish at the Crimson Classic, the squad faces strong opposition in teams from Kentucky, New York, Florida, Missouri, Illinois and Georgia. The Owls will be running against 38 other schools with over a thousand individual athletes. The men’s pool is divided into three groups because of the number of runners competing. Kennesaw State is in the first men’s race of the day.

Knowing how high the level of their opponents is, head cross country coach Stan Sims is hoping to see where his teams lands among the elite.

“The field is huge and competitive for this meet,” Sims said. “Our people need to get out fast, run hard in the middle and hit the finish in a sprint. We are looking for some good times to take us into the next four weeks leading up to conference. Our top seven guys have looked good in training. We expect a lot of the team to run personal records this weekend.”

Running in only their third race of the season, Kennesaw State hopes to improve on their second place finish at the UTC PowerAde Invitational and fifth at the Crimson Classic. Leading the Owls into Louisville will be All- Conference runner Nathan Haskins, who was named Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week for 9/22-9/29. Crossing the line first for the Owls at the Crimson Classic, he set a personal record time in the 8k at 24:27.

Joining Haskins are fellow All-Conference honorees Jaakko Nieminen, Nabil Hamid and Piotr Witczak, who all finished in the top 30 in the Crimson Classic. Having high hopes to repeat as A-Sun Conference Champions, Witczak knows that this weekend is a big step towards a repeat victory in the A-Sun.

“We are all really excited about this meet,” Witczak said. “This is the biggest cross country meet Kennesaw State has ever competed in. Personally, I feel a little bit nervous before the race, but it is a good motivator for me to perform well. The fact that we are going to compete against very strong conference and regional rivals is very motivating."

 

Meet Quick Facts


Event Name: Greater Louisville Classic        

Host: University of Louisville

Location: E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park

Start Time: 9:30 A.M.

Distance: 8k

2009 Owl Finish, Score: N/A

2009 Owl Top Finishers: N/A

Schools Participating (39): Missouri Southern State Univ., Middle Tennessee State Univ.,  Colorado School of Mines,  Univ. of Miami (FL), Columbus State Univ.,  Univ. of Georgia,  Univ. of Louisville, Bellarmine Univ., Washington Univ. (MO), Queens Univ. (NC),  Belmont Univ., Western KY Univ., Mississippi State Univ.,  Bryan College,  Georgia Tech Univ., Univ. of South Carolina – Upstate, East Carolina Univ., Southeast Missouri State Univ.,  Univ. of Missouri, Vanderbilt Univ., Davidson College, Univ. of Kentucky, Eastern KY Univ., Univ. of Mississippi, Elon Univ., Illinois State Univ., Univ. of Tennessee - Chattanooga , Edinboro Univ., Shippensburg Univ., Shorter College, Grand Valley State Univ. Univ. New York at Albany, Univ. of North Carolina – Greensboro, Harding Univ., McKendree College, Kennesaw State Univ., Southern Illinois Univ., Univ. of Southern Indiana, Western Washington Univ.