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MEET INFOÂ
- Vaughn's Gap at Percy Warner Park
- Women's 5K, 8:40 A.M. CT
- Men's 5K, 9:10 A.M. CT
- Live Results
- Meet Central
ABOUT THE TOPSÂ
- The Belmont Opener will mark the first meet under new cross country head coach Lee Wood. Wood previously led the Cross Country and Track and Field programs at Drury University.
- In 2023, freshmen led the Hilltoppers in all five meets. The team tabbed seven new freshmen during the 2024 signing period.
- The team also added five transfers, highlighted by Kalina Urbaniak and Nayla Martin from Evansville and Greenwood High School standout Cates Duncan from Lipscomb.
- The top-two runners from last season will be back to lead the team again in sophomores Kinley Kunkel and Jared Sandfoss.
- Sophomore Jared Sandfoss was named to the 2023 CUSA All-Academic Team, being one of six named to the team.
- Monday, the school announced that the 1974 Hilltopper NCAA Runner Up Cross Country Team will be inducted into the WKU Athletics Hall of Fame. This season will mark the 50th anniversary of the team.
- All-American Nick Rose was the individual national champion and the Hilltoppers claimed team second place honors, capping a season that saw WKU fail to cross the finish line in first place only once in nine events.
QUOTABLEÂ
"I'm looking forward to getting out and letting the athletes shake some rust off. We are not running our entire team for this first meet, but will be a good opportunity to just focus on the team pack racing mindset," said head coach Lee Wood. "I've been really happy with how hard they are working and confident that everyone on the team is much fitter going into this meet compared to last year!" Wood added.
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MEET HISTORY
- This will mark the second straight year the Tops will open the season with the Belmont Opener. The last time WKU competed in the Belmont Opener in back-to-back years was 2018-19.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
- The field will be highlighted by local team and Power Four competitor Vanderbilt.
- Four other schools from the Volunteer State will headline the competition in the likes of Austin Peay, Lipscomb, Tennessee Tech, and host Belmont.
- Presbyterian College along with WKU mark the only two schools not from Tennessee.Â
- WKUSports.com -Â
