RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns Cross Country team is set to compete for a conference title this Saturday at the 2010 Gulf South Conference Championship Meet, which will be held on Nov. 6 at Veteran’s Park in Hoover, Ala., for the fourth consecutive year.
This year’s meet, which will be hosted once again this year by the Hoover High School and the Spain Park High School Track and Field Booster Clubs, features 14 women’s teams. The 5,000-meter women’s race will begin at 9 a.m., while the men’s 11-team, 8,000-meter race will start 30 minutes after completion of the women’s race.
“We’re excited to run at this year’s GSC Championship Meet,” Golden Suns Head Coach Tom Aspel said. “I feel like if we run well, we have a chance to challenge for the top spot. Our girls have run well this season and are ready to compete on Saturday.”
The Golden Suns, who finished third for the second consecutive year at last season’s GSC Championships, enter this year’s meet ranked fourth in the latest USTFCCCA South Region Poll. In addition, Tech is the third GSC squad ranked as Alabama-Huntsville is ranked second and five-time defending GSC Champion Harding is ranked third.
Aspel’s team hasn’t been able to run its full squad since early in the season as senior Michelle Pollreis (Gravette, Ark.) has missed the last two meets, while sophomore Bailee Miller (Dover, Ark.), who was named the GSC Freshman of the Year last season after finishing in second place at the GSC Championships, hasn’t run since the UALR Invitational in mid September. Both Pollreis and Miller have been rehabbing from injuries, but Aspel says both are healthy and will run this weekend.
“We’re getting healthy at the right time of the year,” the longtime Tech coach said.
Leading the way for Tech this season has been freshman Cheryl Nolan (Carlow, Ireland). Without Miller for most of the season, Nolan has stepped up and has had five Top 25 finishes, including two top five performances. Nolan, who has been named a GSC Women’s Runner of the Week twice this season, took home first place honors at the Bison Stampede on Oct. 23. In addition to Nolan, Pollreis had three Top 25 finishes prior to her injury after the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic in early October and freshman Kaitlin Bounds (Russellville, Ark.) has had three Top 25 finishes, including finishing fifth at the Bison Stampede.
Among the other competitors expected to run for Tech on Saturday are senior Lauren Karnitz (DeSoto, Kan.), freshman Amanda Bradbury (Bauxite, Ark.) and freshman Ashley Perisho (West Plains, Mo.). Karnitz was a First-Team All-GSC selection as a sophomore in 2008 after finishing sixth at the GSC Championships.
“Lauren has really run well the past few weeks, while Ashley and Amanda have made big strides since the beginning of the season,” Aspel added.
Alabama-Huntsville, who finished second last season to Harding, is the favorite heading into the meet, but Harding is looking to make history with its sixth consecutive GSC title. In addition to Tech, UAH and Harding, West Florida (No. 6), Delta State (No. 7) and West Alabama (No. 8) are also in this week’s USTFCCA South Regional rankings.
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