Syracuse Samples Site of the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute this Weekend
10/17/2008 8:54:20 AM | Cross Country
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The 26th-ranked men’s and 30th-ranked women’s cross country team will sample the terrain of the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championship on Saturday, October 18 in Terre Haute, Ind. hosted by Indiana State University. The race will be run on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Family Sports Center.
"This is a big race for our team this weekend," head coach Chris Fox said. "It enables us to see where we stand against top-tier competition before we enter championship season. The team performed well at the Paul Short Invitational. We’ve been training hard in our off-weeks and I think we’re right where we need to be right now."
Out of the top 35 teams in the country, 27 of them will be present in Saturday’s meet. The women’s harriers have been placed in the ’White Race’ that is set to go off at 11:35 a.m. while the men’s side will run in the ’Blue Race’ commencing at 12:10 p.m. The Orange women will run a 6K course and the men will make their way down an 8K trek.
In three meets for both the men’s and women’s teams, the Orange has claimed two out of three first-place finishes this season.
In Syracuse’s first race, junior Curtis Bixler directed the Syracuse men to its first win with his victorious time of 19:05.00 at the Harry Lang Invitational in Hamilton, N.Y. Freshman Lauryn MacFawn dashed 4,200 meter for a first-place time of 17:00.00 to support the women’s winning run at Colgate.
The Orange men and women recorded their second straight team victory at the Harry Groves Invitational in University Park, Pa. Junior Dan Busby led the men to a perfect 15-point sweep at Penn State by seizing first-place with a pace of 25:58 on a 5.2 mile course. Junior Maegan Krifchin’s second-place time of 21:39 in the 6K carried the women to another victory.
The Syracuse men picked up second place out of 45 teams at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3 and the women placed fifth out of 43 squads. Junior Brad Miller’s fifth-place finish of 23:58 led the Orange while Krifchin guided Syracuse for the second race in a row with a 19th place time of 20:54.
Earlier this week, the women’s cross country team made its way into the national rankings for the first time in program history. The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its fourth national poll of the season and ranked the Orange women distance-runners 30th in the country. The men’s contingent remains the 26th best team in the country through week four. The Orange men earned their highest tabbing last week by the USTFCCCA and to this date, it is the highest the men’s harriers have ever been rated.
Last season, junior Jeff Scull generated a team-best time of 23:57 and finished 35th overall as the Orange placed 13th out of 40 teams in the men’s 8k race.
