KENNESAW, Ga. - With a season that has already included four wins in their first six meets, the Kennesaw State men’s cross country team has the opportunity to pull-off the biggest victory in their program’s history on Saturday, when they travel to DeLand, Fla. to compete in the Atlantic Sun Championships at 9:45 a.m.

After a third place finish last season gave them their fourth straight top-four finish in the A-Sun Championship since they joined the conference in 2005, the Black & Gold are ready to take the next step forward with their program and take home a conference crown.

The 8k race will take place at Sperling Sports Complex near the campus of hosting Stetson University. Luckily for the Owls, they had the opportunity to preview the course three weeks ago, when they were in central Florida to race in the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic.

“If there’s one thing I can say to describe this course, it’s that it is definitely a Florida course, in every sense of the word,” said junior Nathan Haskins, who also raced in the conference preview at the course, The Hatter Invitational, on October 16. “The course is very sandy, and very flat and fast, and since we train on the mountains, we will have to make the adjustment from running on hilly terrain.“

Another thing to take into account will be the weather in DeLand, which is expected to include temperatures in the high 80’s with high humidity. Preparing themselves physically for a race in those conditions can be challenging, and with so much at stake, the coaching staff had to make sure the runners knew how to handle that.

“We had to make sure that our runners knew how important it was to stay hydrated, not just on the day of the race, but during the entire week leading up to it,” men’s head coach Stan Sims said. “It’s something we are not as familiar with doing as, say, a team that is based in Florida, but in reality, they are facing the same conditions as we are, so there really are no excuses when it comes to that.”

The talent for the Owls includes a blend of veteran experience and young runners that are looking to make an impact on the conference level for the first time. Senior Scott Burley will be expected to be among the leading runners this week, as it will be his third trip to the A-Sun Championships, and he has finished in the top-ten both times. In addition, he has led the Owls in two races this season, garnering two Atlantic Sun Conference Runner of the Week awards.

Along with Burley, however, is an extremely strong supporting cast, with top newcomer Nabil Hamid leading the way. The Addis Ababa, Ethiopia native, who finished second at last week’s KSU Owl Invitational on his way to being the reigning A-Sun Runner of the Week, has established himself as a runner that the Owls will depend upon to score well on Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to improving my time this week, but most importantly, I want to make sure that I don’t let anyone from the competition get in front of me,” said Hamid, stressing the importance of place over time in a championship race. “We have an incredible coaching staff who trains us to be champions, and it would be the ultimate show of thanks to bring home a win.”

The Owls understand that it will take a true team effort if they are going to take home the A-Sun crown. Five different runners have led the team in meets this season, and seven have finished in the top ten in a meet at least once, which gives the team confidence that they are deep enough to accomplish their ultimate goal this weekend.

In addition, the presence of Haskins, who has been battling injury this season and has run in just two races, should help tremendously, as he is regarded as one of the top runners on the squad.

“Running is 90% mental and just 10% physical,” said Haskins of his approach to running competitively when not at full strength. “I’ve really been working on the mental side of things, knowing that I may not be all there physically. I should be able to run a smart race and hopefully make a major contribution to our effort.”

It will take five strong performances from the Owl runners to get into position to win, and Sims knows that it will take more than just strong runs from Burley, Haskins, and Hamid.

“I’m really looking for Jaakko Nieminen to do well this weekend,” said Sims, referring to the sophomore from Finland who has finished no lower than 19th in any race this fall. “He started to show some promise during outdoor track last spring, and really came to campus in the fall in great shape. We’re seeing it pay off. In addition, we’re really hoping to see Michael Johnson pull a race out of his hat this weekend and give us even more depth. He’s a great team leader and i’m really pulling for him.”

Johnson, a senior who redshirted last season, has run in the conference race three times, with his best finish being 24th in 2006. He had his best finish of 2009 last week, finishing 10th at the KSU Owl Invitational.

“Waiting for the conference race to come, I have felt like a kid waiting for Christmas all season,” said Johnson. “Our team looks so strong up to this point, and I think we can really do some special things.”

The Owls will face some stiff competition in their quest for the title. The Belmont Bruins won the title six consecutive times before being ousted by East Tennessee State last season. The Bruins and Bucs will be the top two foes that the Owls will have to overcome if they are to be successful on Saturday. Defending A-Sun individual champion Kenneth Rotich will be back to defend the top spot for ETSU, and has rounded into form as of late, winning the conference’s Runner of the Week award on October 21.

“We’ve run enough hot-weather races to be prepared for this week,” said Haskins. “Until we cross that starting line, I’m going to be nervous, if you’re not at least a little nervous, then you’re not really ready to go. I think all of us will be ready.”