By: by Emily Diekelmann
KENNESAW, Ga. - Finally arriving at the meet they have been training for all season, the men’s cross country team heads to Millikin Research Park for the Atlantic Sun championship Oct 30. Arriving as the defending champions, the team has been waiting for this moment since they first hit the grass this season.
Competing against familiar foes in A-Sun conference teams like USC Upstate, Lipscomb and Belmont, the men’s team looks to bring the title back to Kennesaw for a second straight season. Head cross country coach Stan Sims knows this is what the team has been working for since August.
“The Milliken Research Park is a great cross country course and we have spent a lot of time at Noon Day Park using the terrain there as tune-ups for the A-Sun championship,” Sims said. I want us to run a somewhat wide-open race, not Kamikaze style but wire-to-wire hard. We have to be ready for anything since a lot can happen in the course of 8000 meters. Cross Country is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you are going to get.”
Last season heading into the A-Sun championship, the men were on a three meet winning streak, the last being their own KSU Owl Invitational. Nabil Hamid would cross the finish line first for the Owls in third with a time of 25:45. Jaakko Nieminen came in two places behind Hamid in 5th with a time of 25:54. Both runners would be given All-Conference first team honors for the first time in their career. Nathan Haskins, Scott Burley and Piotr Witczak would join the duo with their own honor, second team All-Conference.
Their first place conference finish last year also helped Coach Sims nab the A-Sun Coach of the Year award. It was the 11th time he has been named coach of the year but the first time since the athletics program moved to Division I. For Sims, his guys are ready for tough competition this weekend.
“Our guys had a good week of training and are ready to come out to perform well,” Sims said. “Out of our top seven we look to Nathan, Nabil, Jaakko, Piotr, Ryan, Steve and Zach to perform well. Dylan and Andrew should be close behind.”
Co-Captain Haskins remembers what is was like last year to compete for the championship but in his final A-Sun meet, he is looking to make his mark not just individually but as a team.
“This has been a great year since almost everyone has had a person record,” Haskins said. “We are really looking forward to this race and running as a team. We just are ready to show everyone that KSU is ready to become a dynasty in the A-Sun. We have had our little bumps this season but we are looking forward to this race because everything is really coming together. We just want to show everyone what we are made of.”
Quick Facts
Event Name: Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championship
Host: USC Upstate
Location: Milliken Research Park
Start Time: 10:00 A.M.
Distance: 8k
2009 Owl Finish, Score: 1st, 40
2009 Owl Top Finishers: Hamid-3rd, 25:45
Schools Participating (11): Belmont, Campbell, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, Stetson, Univ. of North Florida, USC Upstate
