BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sept. 4, 2008) - The ETSU men's and women's cross country team is set make its 2008 season debut Friday night when they compete in the Virginia Tech Cross Country Relay. The women's race kicks off at 5:30 p.m., while the men begin at 6:30 p.m.

Runners will be paired up and the races are split into two legs, with the men and women running an 8,000-meter and 6,000-meter race respectively. Each runner in the men's race will run a 4,000-meter leg and in the women's race, each athlete will complete 3,000-meters. The top three pairs will count towards each teams' score.

ETSU is led by junior Kenneth Rotich (Nairobi, Kenya) on the men's side, while the twins of Terra and Tesha Haggard (Morristown, Tenn.) are expected to guide the women in 2008. Rotich became only the second athlete in Atlantic Sun history to win three Runner of the Week awards a year ago, and the Haggard's are the top returning runners on the women's side.

As a team, the Buccaneer men were selected second in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll, while the women were tied with Mercer for seventh.

Along with ETSU and host Virginia Tech, Liberty, Radford and VCU will also compete in the meet.

Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for results and a recap following the relays.