Upstate Set for NCAA Southeast Regional Friday Afternoon
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate cross country team heads to Louisville, Ky. Friday for the NCAA Southeast Regional hosted by the University of Louisville from E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.
The event begins at 12 p.m. Friday afternoon with the women's 6K race followed by the men at 1 p.m. in the 10K. This marks the first time that Upstate has ran in both a 6K and 10K race this season.
On the women's side, Jasmine Polite will be running as an individual in the 6K event. The senior finished 18th at the A-Sun Championships after posting a time of 18:30.21. Polite has recorded the top individual performance in every meet for the Spartan women this season led by her third-place finish at the College of Charleston Invitational with a personal-best time of 18:22.00. She also had a sixth-place finish earlier this year at the Eye Opener Invitational. Last season at the Southeast Regional, Polite led the team with a 123rd place finish.
The Upstate men ran to a fifth-place finish two weeks ago at the A-Sun Championships in DeBary, Fla. led by an eighth-place showing from Griffin Eubanks en route to being named Second Team All-Conference. He became the sixth Spartan to earn All-Conference honors from the A-Sun, joining Gilbert Kemboi, Davey Dennison, Christian Ritacco, Cameron Thomas and Ross Oden. As a team, Upstate compiled a total time of 2:13:06.23.
"The men have come a long way this season and we have seen a young group of guys really begin to develop," said associate head coach Carson Blackwelder. "This race will be a great experience for our young guys since they have never run a cross country 10K race. They are in great shape and I know they are ready to take on this challenge."
At last year's Southeast Regional, the men finished 28th as former Spartan Ross Oden collected the best individual finish of 112th. Upstate had two runners post personal-best times while tallying 778 points.
A total of 38 teams are slated to compete in the men's race and 42 for the women. The field will be made up of 637 runners from schools across the Southeast region. The Spartans are the lone team from the A-Sun running in the meet.
The 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.
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