Cross Country Set For FSU Invite
10/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 7, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Two weeks removed from a strong performance at the Memphis Twilight Classic, the Stephen F. Austin cross country teams return to action with a trip to the Florida State Invitational. The meet is scheduled for Friday evening at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.
SFA is competing in the event for the second straight season. The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks each won team titles at last year's meet with Mitch Ownbey taking the men's individual crown.
As SFA continues to sharpen its racing for the championship portion of the season, head coach Lou Snelling said he expects this year's FSU Invite to feature a stronger field.
"The level of competition is going to be awesome," Snelling said. "It's a smaller meet. There will definitely be better competition up front. It won't have the depth of competition that Memphis had, but it's a really good field at the front."
Host Florida State will put the No. 3 team in the nation on the start line for the women's race, and the Seminoles men's team comes in as the No. 15 squad in the country. Florida also has a pair of nationally ranked teams in the race. The Gator men are No. 30 in the latest USTFCCCA poll, while the Florida women are 27th.
Other teams in the meet include North Florida, University of Tampa, Troy, Fort Valley State and the Florida Track Club.
"We're going to see a meet that's going to be similar to the size of our conference meet," Snelling said. "We'll have to deal with a lot of situations similar to what we'll see at conference. At the same time, we're going against a very high level of competition, so that's just a great combination for us."
Coming off an early portion of the season that was heavy on practice and light on competition, Snelling says the Memphis meet played a big role in his teams' training. The Ladyjacks rolled to a team victory while the men's team finished fifth.
"To have the success we did across the board, that gives you a little bit more confidence and excitement about what's going on," the coach said.
"That first five-week block, the sole focus was just the training in and of itself ... Now we're in a new block where we start to see some of those bigger days start to happen. Memphis was our first big day. We followed that up with some pretty high-quality workouts, and this weekend is another big day for us. The plan is to carry that over into the weeks getting ready for conference."
While the number of competitors may be similar to the conference meet, the course itself at the FSU Invite will be unlike anything else SFA will see this year. The Memphis Twilight and the Southland Championships both employ a flat course with clear sightlines. The course at Apalachee Regional Park is hilly with forested areas.
"It's a one-eighty from Memphis," Snelling said. "Even though it's in Florida, with it being in the panhandle, it's a rolling course. Tactically, there's just a whole lot more to it than Memphis. You've got hills, sections through the woods, tough sightlines and all kinds of things to deal with that you didn't have at Memphis."
The meet gets under way at 6:20 p.m. with the women's 5,000-meter race. The men's 8,000-meter run is scheduled to follow at 6:45 p.m.
-- SFA --
