LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The Kentucky cross country team will host the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championships and participate in three regular-season meets within the Bluegrass State to highlight this season?s schedule, announced Tuesday by head coach Don Weber.
?I like our schedule and we?re fortunate in that the courses that we need to run and the competition that we need to run against are pretty local for us,? Weber said. ?There were people last year who, to a great degree, established themselves as serious college distance runners. The most gratifying thing about this is, based upon the training logs they sent us from their summer workouts, this appears to be the best summer training any group of distance runners ? even counting the NCAA and SEC Championship teams ? have ever done during the summer across the board. I?m hoping that pays off dramatically for us.?
The Wildcats begin their 2007 slate at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational in Richmond, Ky., on Friday, before competing in the Old Timer?s Classic in Bowling Green, Ky., on Sept. 15 and the Greater Louisville Classic on Sept. 29.
Kentucky will head northeast to participate in the Penn State National Invitational Oct. 12.
The Wildcats will host the 2007 SEC Championships, to be held at the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 27, before traveling to Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 10 to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
?We?ve hosted a number of SEC indoor meets and I think running at home in big meets is really an advantage,? Weber said. ?I would like to think that having that meet on the schedule down the road is going to play a factor in all our meets in terms of motivation among all our team members to be in the top eight so that they get to run in the conference meet. On race day, I would like to think that?s going to be a little something extra that we?re going to have as opposed to having to travel someplace.?
2007 Kentucky Cross Country Schedule
Friday, Aug. 31 at Eastern Kentucky Invitational Richmond, Ky. Saturday, Sept. 15 at Old Timer?s Classic Bowling Green, Ky. Saturday, Sept. 29 at Greater Louisville Classic Louisville, Ky. Friday, Oct. 12 at Penn State National Invitational State College, Penn. Saturday, Oct. 27 SEC Championships Lexington, Ky. Saturday, Nov. 10 at NCAA Southeast Regional Louisville, Ky.
