The University of Akron Athletics
Cross Country Heads To Pre-National Invitational In Louisville
October 11 | Cross Country
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Pre-National Invitational Central Page
AKRON, Ohio – With the regular-season winding down, The Unviersity of Akron men's and women's cross country teams will see where they stack up with the rest of the country at the Pre-National Invitational Saturday in Louisville, Ky.
The Pre-National meet serves as a pre-cursor for the national championships, which will be held at the same site on Nov. 17, and Saturday's field will feature numerous powerhouses that finished among the elite at the 2011 national championships. For the Zips, the meet will also represent UA's final competition before the 2012 Mid-American Conference Championships, which will be hosted by the University at Buffalo on Oct. 27.
The Akron men, which jumped into the Great Lakes Regional rankings (No. 14) for the first time last week, and women will compete in the Black Division Saturday. The men's race will begin at 10:45 a.m., while the women's side will get underway at 11:30 a.m.
The Zips men are coming off of a strong showing at the All-Ohio Championshpis, which saw the team finish third out of nine schools, and will be boosted by the return of two-time school record-holder and First Team All-Mid-American Conference runner Brad Hough and Kyle Cochrun, who owns the school's indoor record in the 5,000-meters. Hough, who owns school records in the indoor 3,000-meters and outdoor 5,000-meters, and Cochrun had missed the first three meets of the season due to injury.
The women's team, which finished fourth at the All-Ohio Championships, will look to continue their fast start after posting back-to-back wins at the Tommy Evans Invitational and Buffalo Stampede Invite. Junior transfer and German native Lea Suess is expected to make her Zips debut Saturday.
For more details about Saturday's competition, including course maps, parking and ticket information, visit UofLSports.com.
