Both the men and women look to improve on last year’s finishes at the Regional

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (Nov. 14, 2013) – Following a pair of top-three finishes at the Atlantic Sun Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Nashville, Tenn., the ETU cross country teams will continue action at the NCAA South Regional on Friday at Harry Pritchett Running Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

On Friday, the men will begin the competition with an 11 a.m. ET start time in a 10K, followed by the women with a 12:15 p.m. ET start time in a 6K.

Last season at the Regional in Tallahassee, Fla., the ETSU men turned in an Atlantic Sun-best seventh-place finish, while the women took 20^th place.

“The men's and women's teams have trained well since the conference meet and I have no doubt they are physically prepared to have a great race,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts. “The goal for both teams is to improve on last year’s finishes.”

On the men’s side, the Buccaneers enter competition ranked 12^th in the South Region after a third-place finish at the 2013 Atlantic Sun Championship. In Nashville, the Bucs were paced by Filip Jalovy (Modrice, Czech Republic) who turned in an eighth-place overall finish with a time of 25:30.16 which helped guide the Blue and Gold to a third-place team finish. With Jalovy’s time, the junior secured second-team All-Atlantic Sun honors.

“The men need to show up hungry on Friday,” said Watts, “and prove to themselves that they are a better team than their conference performance indicates.”

The ETSU women will look to again lean on team catalyst Katie Hirko (Oley, Pa.) at the Regional. At the A-Sun Championship the Bucs were led by Hirko, as they have been all season, with a third-place overall finish and a time of 17:41.13. Hirko’s time was an aid in helping ETSU gain a runner-up team finish and also helped the sophomore sensation earn first-team all-conference honors for the second-consecutive season.

“The women continue to improve every week,” said Watts, “and I couldn't be more proud of their performances throughout the season.”

The top two teams at each regional championship meet automatically qualify for the championship meet. Thirteen at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division I track and field subcommittee. In addition, from each NCAA regional meet, the first four student-athletes not on a qualifying team will be automatic qualifiers to the NCAA championship meet.

Stay tuned to ETSUBucs.com on Friday for a recap and results from the NCAA South Regional.

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