CLARKSVILLE - Austin Peay State University men and women's
cross country teams open their respective 2010 campaigns at the
Belmont-Vanderbilt Cross Country Opener, Friday, at Percy Ward Park's Vaughn's
Creek Course in Nashville.
The women's teams will get out of the blocks first, with
their four-kilometer race scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's
five-kilometer race which will follow at approximately 6 p.m.
The women's race features 13 teams, including three teams
ranked in the preseason US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches
Association (USTFCCCA) South Region rankings: Vanderbilt (No. 3), Alabama (No.
6) and Tennessee (No. 7).
The Lady Govs return just two runners from last season's
team - juniors Janelle Avery and Alyssa Molnar - who will be joined by five
freshmen. Avery was the team's most valuable player last season and will be
called on to lead this season's young group.
"This is definitely a stacked race on the women's side,"
said APSU cross country head coach Doug Molnar. "Our young squad will quickly
get a taste of what college cross country is about. We'll have five freshmen
running in our starting line-up so it should be fun to see how they react to
the situation. We will try to stay within ourselves and run our race. We've
been putting in a lot of miles and this is a short race so our strength should
show up in the end."
The men's race will have fewer competitors - 11 teams will
be competing - but the competition will be just as stiff with three teams
ranked in the USTFCCCA South region rankings: Tennessee (No. 4), Belmont (No.
9) and Lipscomb (No. 15).
The Governors are not as youthful as the women's squad as
four runners return from last season's team, including team most valuable
player, junior Enock Langat. That group of returners will
be supplemented by three newcomers, led by sophomore transfer Geofrey Kosgei,
who joins the Govs after a standout season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff where he
finished 17th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Cross Country
Championship.
"The men's race will be just as competitive as the women's,"
Molnar said. "Our guys have been putting in a lot of miles so this will be a comparatively
short distance for them; it will be interesting to see how they do. I'd like to
see them go out controlled and really ramp it up over the last few kilometers."
- AP -