COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech cross country teams will head to Louisville, Ky., this weekend to compete in their largest races of the season at the Greater Louisville Classic.
Held at E.P Sawyer State Park, the site where the NCAA Championships will be held in November, this weekend's meet will feature 88 schools including 34 Division I squads, 15 each from Division II and Division III, and 24 NAIA programs.
Tech will run in the men's "Blue" division, an 8K race in among approximately 15 Division I teams, with the starting gun at 10:45 a.m. The Golden Eagle women are included in the 5K "Blue" division, also featuring 15 Division I schools, starting at 11:30 a.m.
"We are entering the championship phase of our training and I am pleased to say that we are steadily improving as a team," said Golden Eagle head coach Wayne Angel.
"We will be competing with nearly 90 teams this weekend. It is the largest field that we have competed in this year, and the high level of competition should pay huge dividends for Tech."
The Golden Eagle men's lineup is missing one key element with Daniel Williamson sidelined while nursing an injury. Tech will be represented by Geoffrey Sambu, Amos Kipchirchir, Timothy Misoy, Noah Rotich and Colin Gwaltney.
The Tech women's team will send 10 runners to the starting line, led by newcomers Sarah Brandt and Jenna Storms. The lineup will also include Purity Murray, Madison Stremler, Sonel Bezuidenhout, Lera McNamara, Angela Jepchirchir, Anna Cooper, Molly Griffin and D'Airrien Jackson.
"As a team, we are young and inexperienced, but with our inexperience, this meet will serve as a good tool to see where we need to improve in order to compete at the highest level at the OVC championships," Angel said.
Among the 34 Division I teams expected to compete are seven Ohio Valley Conference teams, including the Golden Eagles. Other OVC entries are Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Belmont.
