Men's Cross Country to Compete against No. 1 Team
10/2/2008 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 2, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's cross country team will travel a veteran squad and a younger squad this weekend to different parts of the country.
Third Annual Bill Dellinger Invitational
The veteran squad will fly across the country for the third straight year to compete at the Third Annual Bill Dellinger Invitational hosted by The University of Oregon at the Springfield Country Club. The meet will take place on Saturday morning, Oct. 4.
The meet is filled with All-Americans and five top 25 ranked teams including Alabama at No. 5. The event is headed by host school and defending NCAA Champions No. 1 Oregon, No. 7 Portland, No. 17 Texas-El Paso and No. 23 Cal Poly. UCLA (also receiving votes) is in the field as well. The All-Americans in the field include Alabama's Augustus Maiyo, Oregon's Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Daniel Mercado and Diego Mercado, Portland's David Kinsella and Texas-El Paso's Japheth Ng'ojo.
Alabama finished third at last year's meet with Emmanuel Bor and Maiyo finishing third and fourth, respectively. The Crimson Tide returns the same team and but this time with JUCO All-American Tyson David and freshman Zac Edwards. The Tide will also travel team members Titus Koeh, Abraham Kutingala and Andrew Kirwa.
The men's 8,000 meter race is scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m. (PT).
Tiger Invitational
The younger half of the team will head across the state to run at the Tiger Invitational hosted by in state and conference rival Auburn University on Oct. 4 at Indian Pines Golf Course.
The Crimson Tide will be represented by four freshmen in Auburn, Ala. including Nathan Corder, Stephen Payne, David May and Chase Volinski.
The Tide squad in Auburn will race against the host school and No. 21 ranked team Auburn and No. 26 Florida State. Washington (also receiving votes) is in the field as well.
The 27-team orange Mel Rosen 8,000 meter race is schedule to begin at 10:15 a.m.
Ranked Teams
Alabama will race against a total of six top 30 ranked teams from both the meet hosted by Oregon and by Auburn. The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 5 in the country for the second straight week. It is the highest ranking ever achieved by the cross country team in school history. The two squads combined will see ranked teams No. 1, No. 7, No. 17, No. 21, No. 23 and No. 26. Two schools, UCLA and Washington, are also receiving votes in the polls.
Looking Ahead
The men's cross country team will take a week off before competing again at the Pre-NCAA Invitational on Oct. 14. The squad will once again race against many of the top ranked teams in the nation on the same course that the NCAA Championships will be run on. This is the same course Alabama posted a sixth place team finish in 2007. It is the highest finish in school history.
Quotes from cross country coach Joe Walker
On the race in Auburn
"We have a lot of the younger guys going down to Auburn to compete against some top teams as well. Auburn is a really good chance to get some of our other guys some good work and experience."
On the race in Oregon
"This weekend will give us a better idea of where we're at as far as early October. It doesn't really mean a lot in the big scheme of things for November but it definitely gives us an idea of where we're at right now."
"Oregon just presents a real opportunity for us to find out where we're at on a national level going up against the No. 1, No. 7, No. 17 and No. 23 teams in the country. We'll deal with 5 ranked teams on the same day."
