Wednesday, October 19, 2005

PBC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP SET FOR SATURDAY

AUGUSTA, GA - The 15th Peach Belt Conference cross country championships will be held this Saturday, Oct. 22, at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton, N.C., the home course for host UNC Pembroke. The men will begin with an 8k race at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 5k women’s race at 10:30 a.m. With the departure of North Florida and Kennesaw State for the Division I ranks, the 2005 championships may be the most contested in the history of the Peach Belt, with several teams in contention for the titles. Either KSU or UNF have won every men’s and women’s title since 1993.

On the men’s side both Clayton State and Columbus State have their eyes on the prize. The Clayton State Lakers, the runner-up each of the past two years, enter the race with three top-five finishes in their four meets this season. Manny Aquilar and Bobby Valdez set the pace for the Lakers, Valdez running a season-best 25:53 8k at the Pre-Region meet in Florida. Columbus State will look to Kenyan star Moses Kosegi, who has won two meets so far this season and finished third at the 2004 Peach Belt. The Cougars have four top-10’s this year, including a team win at their own Cougar Invitational.

While Columbus and Clayton may be favored, they are in no way assured of anything. Francis Marion has finished no worse than sixth in any meet this season with four top-five finishes. GC&SU won the Oglethorpe Invitational last weekend and Richard Dobson crossed the line first for the Bobcats. UNC Pembroke has won two meets this year, including last week’s Old North State Collegiate. Current PBC Runner of the Week Kipp Maritim has come on strong the second half of the season, finishing second in the Old North State. North Georgia, in their first year with the conference, has two top-10 finishes this season and has arguably run in the
toughest meets of anyone in the conference.

And if the men’s race is competitive, the women’s race may be a war. Clayton State, Columbus State and Lander all have reasonable expectations to win. The Clayton State Lakers will look to Allison Kruetzer, defending conference champion and runner-up in the NCAA nationals. Kruetzer won the Wingate Invitational this year and finished second at the Division I-laden Furman Invitational. Columbus State’s Janet Chepkonga has finished either first or second four times this year while teammate Isabel Zamora won the Cougar Invitational. Lander’s Ivana Petrovic has won three straight races heading into the conference meet.

But there’s even more. UNC Pembroke’s Katerina Matuosova has won twice this season, including last weekend’s Old North State Collegiate. Augusta State’s Annie Kim had three top-three finishes in a row, including second at the UNCP Invitational, run on the same course as Saturday’s PBC meet. GC&SU as a team won last weekend’s Oglethorpe Invitational with Sarah Hakala finishing third. North Georgia’s Irina Watkins has two top-three finishes in her two races this season and was the 2002 PBC Runner of the Year when she was with Kennesaw State. USC Aiken has three top-10 finishes this season, including fifth at the Lander Invitational.
Admission to Luther Britt Park is free and the meets are open to the public. Meet results can be seen on Saturday at www.uncp.edu/athletics or www.peachbelt.com.

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