Aug 29, 2013
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The WKU men's and women's cross country teams begin their 2013 season Friday at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tenn. as they participate in the Belmont Opener.
The Hilltoppers will race against eight teams while the Lady Toppers will square off with nine teams, including Southeastern Conference foes Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
Both the Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers were picked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll on Thursday and return three of five runners who scored at the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Cross Country Championships, headlined by all-conference runners David Mokone and Lindsey Hinken.
Mokone, a junior, has notched consecutive All-Sun Belt Conference honors after back-to-back fourth place finishes at the championships. Hinken emerged as WKU's top runner as a freshman in 2012, placing seventh at the Sun Belt Conference Championships to nab all-league honors.
Hinken and fellow sophomores Katie Lever and Louise Hill-Stirling are WKU's top returnees who helped lead the Lady Toppers to a third-place finish at last year's conference championships.
The Hilltoppers return a two-time all-league runner in Mokone and 2012 conference championship scorers Sean Hurd and Aaron Stevens, but 2012 All-American Joseph Chebet. Chebet was the men's individual champion at the Sun Belt Conference Championships and became just the second Hilltopper to earn All-American status since 1992.
Friday's race will be one of WKU's two competitions in Nashville this season, with WKU participating in the Commodore Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt on Sept. 14.
2013 SBC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
- UT Arlington (9) - 95 points
- UALR (1) - 91 points
- South Alabama - 75 points
- WKU - 66 points
- Louisiana-Lafayette - 54 points
- Louisiana-Monroe - 50 points
- Arkansas State - 47 points
- Texas State - 33 points
- Troy - 29 points
2013 SBC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
- Arkansas State (7) - 95 points
- Georgia State (2) - 86 points
- UT Arlington (1) - 76 points
- WKU - 67 points
- South Alabama - 66 points
- UALR - 48 points
- Texas State - 37 points
- Troy - 30 points
- Louisiana-Lafayette - 31 points
- Louisiana-Monroe - 14 points
