BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU cross country will welcome Conference USA competition this Saturday as the Hilltoppers host the 2015 C-USA Cross Country Championships at Kereiakes Park for the first time since joining the league.
The championships will begin with the men's 8,000-meter race at 9 a.m. CT, followed by the women's 5K run at 10 a.m. CT. The awards ceremony will be held after the completion of the women's race, and admission is free to the general public.
"I think it will be a very, very competitive meet," said head coach Erik Jenkins. "I think it will be very interesting. On paper, we have some very good teams. On the women's side, you have four teams in the Top 15 in their respective regions. On the men's side, there's another four teams ranked, with three in the Top 5, so that bodes well for a championship being here at Kereiakes."
The Lady Toppers posted a fourth-place finish at last season's championship and will look to build on the success so far through the 2015 campaign. They will compete against 12 other C-USA opponents at the home meet, with Rice (6), Southern Miss (9), North Texas (10) and UTSA (12) all ranked in their respective USTFCCCA Regional Rankings.
For the men's championship, WKU will race 10 other conference schools, including a UTEP squad ranked No. 11 in the latest USTFCCCA National Poll. The Hilltoppers set multiple personal records at the Pre-Nationals Invitational two weeks ago and are led by Endalow Takele, who won the Belmont opener, and Aaron Stevens.
