CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga men’s and women’s cross country teams will open the 2009 season with the annual PowerAde Invitational. The women will run a 2-mile course while the men’s race will be a 5k. The event will begin at the Moccasin Bend Race Course at with the women’s race at 5:45 p.m.
Both teams were picked to finish second at this year’s Southern Conference championships. The Lady Mocs, three-time defending champions, return just one all-conference performer and one member of the all-freshman team.
Tara Gietema was the top finisher for Chattanooga at the 2008 championships placing fifth overall while Meredith White was the Lady Mocs’ top freshman in 12th. NCAA Outdoor qualifier Anneli Uys will be in the mix along with Shelley Taylor, Lauren Anderson and Monika Groppe.
The Mocs return SoCon Runner of the Year and all-region performer Emmanuel Kirwa as well as all-conference performer and NCAA Outdoor qualifier Chris Berry. Also in the mix will be last year’s SoCon Freshman of the Year Joshue Vasquez. NCAA Outdoor qualifier Michael Danehy, Blake Ketron and David Moore will round out this squad.
Head Coach Bill Gautier brought in a slew of freshmen with talent and credentials. Mary Stuive is coming off a third place finish at the OFSAA Provincial Cross Country Championships in Canada while former teammates Kathryn Stuart and Mary Cumbee finished second and third, respectively, at the TSSAA Cross Country Championships last fall.
On the men’s side, Gautier has in his arsenal is region cross country titlist Kyle McLarty who also won the 5000 meter at the Jesse Owens Classic. Lucas Cotter of Collierville, Tenn., placed third in his region last year in cross country and Mark Cole claimed a pair of district cross country titles.
Chattanooga will host Middle Tennessee, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Tennessee State in both races.
The Blue Raiders opened the season at Belmont placing three men in the top five including race champ Festus Chamaoi who finished 18 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. The women’s Zamzam Sangau was second in the women’s race.
Mercer opened the season at the South Carolina Gamecock Invitational. The men placed third overall and the women sixth. Freshman Kacie Niemann shattered the previous school best in the 5K by nearly 14 seconds and placed seventh out of almost 100 runners.
Kennesaw State opened its season last weekend at the JSU Struts hosted by Jacksonville State in Oxford, Ala. The Owls swept the top three spots and placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 to claim a first place title at the event. Mackenzie Howe took first in the 2-mile event in a time of 11:07 on a rain-slicked course. The men’s team also placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 finished second, third, fourth, seventh and ninth in the 5K event.
Tennessee State’s men’s and women’s teams were both picked to finishe 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference Coaches’ Preseason poll earlier this year.
The women’s race is set for a 5:45 p.m. start with the men to follow at 6:15. Admission is free to the event. Complete results will available at GoMocs.com
