Cross Country Announces 2015 Schedule
August 17, 2015 | Cross Country
The University of Louisville cross country program announced its 2015 slate on Monday. In addition to two meets in Louisville, the Cardinals will host the NCAA Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.
"We've put together an outstanding schedule for the fall," said head coach Dale Cowper. "The opening race at Evansville will allow us the opportunity to have a low key opener and really determine where each of the students are at coming off their summer training."
The Cardinals open the year just north of Louisville at the Evansville Early Bird in Evansville, Ind., for the eighth time in the past nine seasons. The meet is scheduled to be held on Sept. 5 at the University of Evansville cross country course.
"The next three races will be against much larger fields that continue to grow competitively," said Cowper. "It's exciting to race our last two regular season competitions at Tom Sawyer Park. Both the Greater Louisville Classic and Pre National fields will be loaded with a number of nationally ranked teams. We'll need to race well in October to set up a run into the postseason."
Two weeks later on Sept. 13, the Cardinals travel south to the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tenn. Last year, Edwin Kibichiy, Ernest Kibet, and Japhet Kipkoech all had top-10 finishes to lead the Cardinal men to a second place finish at the event. Benadate Cheruiyot ran a top-10 finish to lead the women to a fifth-place showing.
Louisville takes a few weeks off from competition to prepare for the 11th annual Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3 at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. Kibet and Kibichiy finished in the top five to help lead the men's cross country team to a sixth place finish in a packed field. The women finished with a 13th-place showing last season.
Two weeks later, Louisville will host the Pre National Invitational, one of the top collegiate races in the country, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. In 2014 at Terre Haute, Ind., Emily Bushey finished 15th to lead the women's cross country team to a fourth place finish in the white race while the men finished 33rd.
The Cards will run in their second Atlantic Coast Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Tallahassee, Fla. In their inaugural ACC Championships, the men finished eighth while the women finished 12th. Kibet finished with a career-best 8K time of 23:21.7 in the race for a second place finish while Cheruiyot recorded a season-best 6K time of 21.19.2 to lead the women.
"The ACC has the opportunity to prove it is the strongest cross country conference in the country this fall," Cowper said. "Racing well on Halloween weekend in Tallahassee is going to be our regular season focus."
Following the ACC Championships, the Cardinals travel east to the NCAA Southeast Regional in Panaroma Farms, Va. The University of Virginia will serve as the host institution for the Nov. 13 meet. The top two finishing teams in each race automatically qualify for nationals.
The cross country season concludes in Louisville with the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21, marking the third straight year after occurring only once since World War II that the championships will be held on a Saturday instead of Monday. It will be the 78th annual men's competition and 36th annual women's competition.
Kibichiy and Kibet earned All-American honors at the 2014 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., and capped an impressive season with 23rd and 32nd place finishes, respectively.
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