Cross Country Set to Open 2011 Season
September 02, 2011 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 2, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's and women's cross country teams are set to open the 2011 season on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Mid-America Opener on the campus of the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind.
The women's 4K race begins at 10 a.m. at Evansville's cross country course, with the men's 6K race to follow.
The men, ranked 20th nationally by the USTFCCCA, boast a strong group of returnees that include Matt Bruce, Matt Hughes, Tyler Byrne, Luke Lovelace, Mattias Wolter, Gordon Dooley and Ryan Eaton. At last year's season-opening competition, the Cardinal men finished in second. Byrne recorded a seventh-place showing, while Dooley took ninth.
The women's squad, whose roster is dominated by underclassmen, won last year's meet. Cassie Martin and Ariel Briggs placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
Both teams will be under new tutelage, with the addition of new assistant cross country and distance coaches Joe Walker and Taryn Sheehan. Walker guided Alabama's men's cross country team to four-straight top-15 finishes at the NCAA Championships and eight NCAA South Region titles. Sheehan, who competed for one year at Louisville, previously helped restore Western Michigan's track and cross country programs, directing the women's squad in 2010 to its best finish (15th) at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship since 2004.
For all of the latest information on Louisville cross country and track and field, log on to uoflsports.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvilletrack.
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