Oct. 1, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s and women’s cross country teams head to the Greater Louisville Invitational to compete in the season’s most difficult and deepest field at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park on Saturday.
The Louisville Sports Commission will host the largest college cross country meet in the south, when 2,000 student-athletes from 97 colleges and universities compete Saturday. The field consists of 29 men’s teams and 23 women’s teams that are currently ranked in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Div- I Regional, NCAA Div. II National, NCAA Div. III National and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Cross Country Polls this season.
The Wildcats will get their first taste of any Southeastern Conference foe this season as Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt will compete in Louisville this weekend. The Vanderbilt women’s team enters the event with the highest regional ranking of any team, men’s or women’s, standing third in the South region. The men’s team from Georgia and Ole Miss rank fifth and sixth respectively in the South region making them the favorite on the men’s side. Both the men and women’s teams from Mississippi State are ranked, with the men ninth and the women 13th.
The Kentucky women’s team currently sits with a season-high ranking of seventh in the Southeast region after first and second place finishes in the opening two meets of the season. UK will be without sophomore standout Chelsea Oswald due to a minor foot problem this weekend. With the temporary loss of Oswald, sophomore Cally Macumber and freshman Taylor Wendler look to build on solid performances during the first two meets of the year. Macumber has claimed top-11 finishes in the first two meets and was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line last year in this event finishing 12th, completing the 5K course in 17:44. Wendler has added depth to the top tier of UK women runners, finishing seventh for the second meet in a row with a time of 22:19 two weeks ago in New York. In addition to Macumber and Wendler freshmen Anna Bostrom and Allison Peare are coming off impressive performances during their first two competitions of the year with top-15 and top-30 finishes, respectively.
The men are coming off a 10th place performance while Luis Orta claimed his fifth top-15 finish in six career meets, taking fifth in New York. The native of Caracus, Venezuela, navigated the 8K course in 25:21 for the top spot on the team for the fourth time in his career. Freshman Stacey Eden, competing in his second career event, was the second finisher for UK in 41st with a time of 26:13. After two meets the men’s team is ranked 14th in the Southeast region.
UK will send 23 student athletes to Louisville, 14 men and nine women. The men’s gold race will start at 9:30 a.m. ET and the women’s gold race will follow at 10:15 a.m. ET. The University of Louisville will host the 2010 Southeast Regional on November 13th at Tom Sawyer Park making the Greater Louisville Invitational an important tune-up event.
E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park is located on the Northeast side of Louisville. Coming from Lexington on I-64 take exit 19B to merge onto I-265N/KY-841 N/Gene Snyder Fwy., then take exit 32 onto KY-447/Westport Rd., turn right at Westport Rd., then left at Frey’s Hill Rd. and the park will be on your left.
Follow all UK cross country news and updates at UKathletics.com.
