KENNESAW,Ga.- Entering their final meet before the conference championship Oct. 30, the men’s cross country team will compete in the UTC Front Runner Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn. Saturday afternoon. Just a week removed from a first place victory at the Samford Invitiational, the men look to one more race to tune up before the push for the postseason.

Looking to defend their A-Sun title in a few weeks, the squad will use the shorter 5k course in Chattanooga as a way to preserve their strength for the final season sprint. Running against teams from Samford, Tennessee State and West Georgia, the team will be able to also see how they improved from their first race of the season which was ran on the same course.

“We elected to stay close to home this weekend,” head cross country coach Stan Sims said. “The UTC meet provides a short course for us and we will use it as a tune-up for the A-Sun championship. Having competed on this course earlier in the season we will have a gauge to measure improvement. We had a good week of training. Out of our top seven we look to Nabil, Jaakko, Piotr, Ryan and Zach to perform well.”

Last week, the Owls raced to a first place victory at the Region preview in Hoover, Ala. Senior Piotr Witczak crossed the finish line first overall which earned him A-Sun runner of the week along with fellow teammate Mackenzie Howe, who won it on the women’s side. Jaakko Nieminen and Nabil Hamid made a splash as well coming in second and third respectively for the Owls.

The last time the team ran in Chattanooga earlier this season, they found themselves with a second place finish and Ryan Burruss was the top finisher in eighth. Having run in three 8k meets since then, Burruss is looking forward to having a shorter course to challenge them.

 “Running in a 5k will be a good change of pace this weekend since we have been running a lot of 8ks the past few weeks,” Burruss said.” The shorter distance will still allow us to test our speed while not tiring us out as much as an 8k would. The team members will also be able to check their individual progress since most of us raced here earlier this year.  This is a good race for everyone to set a personal best for the season in the 5k.”

Quick Facts

Event Name: UTC Front Runner Invitational

Host: University of Tennnessee-Chattanooga

Location: Moccasin Bend Race Course

Start Time: 4:00 P.M

Distance: 5k

2009 Owl Finish, Score: N/A

2009 Owl Top Finishers: N/A

Schools Participating (7): Samford University, West Georgia, Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Univ. of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Trevvecca Nazarene, Middle Tennessee