Friday, September 12, 2003

CCSU opens running season

Peachtree City resident leads women's team

The Clayton College & State University cross country teams begin their ninth season this Saturday a little banged up. But if both teams can overcome these early season setbacks, head coach Mike Mead looks for his squads to pick up where they left off last season.

Both teams will be running Saturday morning at the Mercer Invitational at Vinson Valley Park near Byron. The women's 5K is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start, followed by the men's 8K race at 10 a.m.

The men and women Lakers are coming off their best seasons in 2002. Both teams finished third in the Peach Belt Conference - their best combined finishes since 1997 while the women placed 8th and the men 10th at the NCAA Division II South Region Championships. Both squads ran team-bests at the conference meet and each came away with two all-conference runners.

The Lakers, both ranked ninth in the preseason South Region polls, will begin 2003 with key runners recovering from minor injuries. "We're just a little banged up at the moment," said Mead. "Our men's squad is in the worst shape since our top two guys (Tony Juarez & Adil Berkhedle) have been out for the past week. We're only carrying seven guys this season, so we're particularly thin. The ladies are not quite so bad, but we've had some folks nicked up during the past two weeks. Luckily we're much deeper and are carrying nine women this fall."

The women's squad potentially can improve on last season's successes, returning four of its Top Five runners. Leading the pack will be last season's one-two punch of sophomore Heather Krehbiel of Peachtree City, a Starr's Mill graduate, and junior Kim Daniel of Macon, who both earned All-PBC honors.

Krehbiel established the team freshman 5K mark of 19:00 as the squad's MVP last season and is expected to begin the season at No. 1 once again. Daniel, who ran a collegiate-best 19:14 last fall, will be setting her sights on her third straight All-PBC award as she battles back from injury that plagued her last fall.

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