Men's 8k Course I Women's 5k Course

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Saturday at the Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tenn.

Belmont University will serve as the host school for the second time as they hosted back in 2004, while the course for the championship will be the Vaughn’s Gap Cross Country Course.  The men’s 8k race is slated to begin at 11 a.m. E.T. with the women’s 5k proceeding at 11:45 a.m.

The Black and Gold men’s team will look to repeat for the third consecutive year as A-Sun Champions as the team captured the title in 2010 with a close finish over the Bruins of Belmont. In the last league coaches poll the Owls registered second behind Belmont’s 94 total points with 92.

“The men are ready for a tough race and to three-peat is always hard,” head coach Stan Sims said. “We expect Belmont, UNF, and ETSU to offer stiff competition, but Nabil, Jaakko and Ryan can run with anybody in the league so we need strong performances out of our others. Cross country is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you are going to get, but one thing is certain: When the gun goes off every man has to race 8 kilometers.”

Last time out the men finished seventh at the Crimson Classic as the team placed both junior Nabil Hamid (3rd) and senior Jaakko Nieminen (15th) in the top-15. The squad totaled an 8k team time of 2:09:49.40.

The women’s team will look to chase down defending champions North Florida as the Ospreys finished first in the most recent coaches poll. Last time out at the Crimson Classic the squad placed 17th as they were led by freshman Vicky Winslow for the second consecutive week. The Owls finished with a team total of 1:41:17.09 and an average time of 20:15.42.

“Our women are finally all back,” Sims said. “This team is a different team than what we saw at the Belmont Opener to begin the season. In cross country any one of the top-five teams in the race could pull off a win, so we need a strong performance out of the women if we hope for a respectable finish.”

For further details of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championships, you can follow the teams on Twitter @KSUTrackFieldXC.