Spartan Cross Country Opens Season with Eye Opener Invitational
8/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's and women's cross country teams open the 2012 campaign Friday, hosting the annual Eye Opener Invitational at Milliken Research Park.
The college edition of the Eye Opener is Friday with the women's 5k starting at 6:30 p.m. and the men's 8k at 7 p.m. The high school portion of the event takes place Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m.
This will be the 29th running of the Eye Opener, which is one of the largest high school and college cross country meets in the state. There are 480 entries in this year's race, making it the second largest college Eye Opener field in the event's history.
There are 26 women's team participating Friday night and 24 men's teams including tough competition from Davidson and Furman. The Davidson men's team is currently ranked 11th in the Southeast Region, a traditionally difficult cross country region. The Furman men's team posted a third-place finish last season at the Eye Opener and also finished third at the Southern Conference Championships.
On the women's side, the Wildcats finished 28th at last year's regionals and took third-place at Eye Opener. The Paladins won the Eye Opener last year with a score of 51 points, edging out Clemson by four points. They finished second at the SoCon Championships in 2011.
"The race has a strong turn out and is going to be very competitive for both our men's and women's teams," said Upstate associate head coach Carson Blackwelder. "We are really just looking to get a gage of fitness at this point in the season and begin to get into better race shape."
After claiming the program's first Atlantic Sun Championship team crown last season, the Spartan men are ready to return to the trails and improve on last year's marks. Upstate returns eight of its top nine finishers from the championship winning squad, including A-Sun All-Conference selections Gilbert Kemboi (Eldoret, Kenya), Davey Dennison (Carlisle, Pa.) and Christian Ritacco ( Niceville, Fla.).
At the 2011 Eye Opener, the Upstate men finished fourth in the team standings, while Kemboi posted a first-place finish with at time of 24:52. Andrew Kimpchumba (Eldoret, Kenya) came in 14th with a time of 26:40, while Ritacco took 16th with a time of 26:45.
The Upstate women finished fifth at last year's Eye Opener and fourth at the A-Sun Championship. After graduating the top three finishers at the conference meet, the Spartans reloaded, adding seven newcomers to the 2012 squad, including two South Carolina products.
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