CROSS COUNTRY GEARING UP FOR BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP ON SATURDAY

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford cross country teams are set to compete in the 2011 Big South Championship Saturday, Oct. 29 on the grounds of the Quail Creek Golf Club in Conway, S.C. The men's 8k will begin at 8:30 a.m. while the women's 5k will follow at 9:15 a.m.

“We've looked forward to this moment all season and I expect everyone will have their best race,” said head coach Sean Bossman. “We want to keep moving forward on the men's side and improve upon last year's performance. For the women, we want to improve upon the preseason rankings and move the program in the right direction. We just have to show up and race hard.”

Last year the men's team, who was picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll, surprised everyone with a fifth-place showing. Returning six athletes from that team, the men are making it their goal to improve that performance this weekend.

Thomas Keefe (Fairfax Station, Va./South County Secondary) and Brian Gorwitz (Yorktown, Va./Grafton) have paced the team all season. Keefe comes in with Radford's season-best time of 26:16.97 while Gorwitz owns the second fastest time of 26:22.17, both personal-best times set at the Greater Louisville Classic.

In addition to those top times, Sam Keltner (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial), Chris Weeks (Hamilton, Va./Loudoun Valley), Joey Hannah (Centreville, Va./Centreville) and Ryan Farnan (Winchester, Va./Millbrook) also set PR's at the classic.

The men enter the conference championship with a fifth-place showing at the Big South Preview in mid-September and finished sixth at the Lou Onesty Invitational hosted by UVa.

With injuries reducing depth last year, the women's squad posted a ninth-place showing in late October. This year will be a different story, as Radford is fully healthy and will have nine runners vying for position.

Freshman Teresa Williamson (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) and senior Caroline Ratterree (Falcon, Colo./Northeastern JUCO) have led the Highlanders in every race. Finishing with Radford's only sub-19 minute time, Williamson raced to a 24th-place showing at the Big South Preview. Her season-best finish (11th) came at the Lou Onesty Invitational where Radford grabbed third in the team standings.

A senior in her first cross country campaign, Ratterree crossed the stripe in 67th overall at the Greater Louisville Classic with a personal-best time of 19:19.67.

Junior Hannah Scheren (Lovettsville, Va./Loudoun Valley) will also be a factor, as she raced to a 39th-place finish at the Big South Preview, 11 positions better than last year's championship finish.

CROSS COUNTRY GEARING UP FOR BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP ON SATURDAY

Next Event

Footer