GOLDEN SUNS RELEASE ITS 2008 CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech University Head Cross Country Coach Tom Aspel announced his team’s 2008 schedule on Thursday.

Aspel, who is entering his 14th season at the helm of the Golden Suns Cross Country program, has his team running in six meets before the Gulf South Championships on Oct. 25 in Birmingham, Ala.

Tech, who returns its top five runners from a year ago, including sophomore Lauren Karnitz (DeSoto, Kan.), who was a Second-Team All-GSC selection, will open the season on Aug. 29 by hosting the second-annual Tech Twilight Run at 6:30 p.m. The twilight run will be a two-mile event that will run around perimeter of the Tech campus. The meet will begin and end at Tucker Coliseum.

“We’re excited to once again be able to host a home meet,” Aspel said. “This meet will be a good way for us and the other teams that will be competing to open the season.”

Following the Tech Twilight Run, the Golden Suns will compete at the Brooks/Memphis Twilight Meet, which is hosted by Christian Brothers University, on Sept. 13. The next weekend, Sept. 20, Tech will compete at either the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo., or at the Orange Crush Invitational in Conway, Ark. Tech will close out the month of September at the Rhodes College Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 27.

“I’m hoping our team is strong and healthy enough where we can send runners to both the Missouri Southern and the Orange Crush events,” Aspel said. “The Missouri Southern Stampede is one of the better meets in the region every season.”

Tech will open the month of October by competing on Oct. 11 at the NCAA Division II Pre-Regional/Bison Stampede Meet in Searcy, Ark. Following the Bison Stampede, Tech will conclude its regular season on Oct. 18 at the 16th-annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The Chile Pepper Invitational is one of the premier cross country meets in the country as it features some of the nation’s top-ranked teams from NCAA Division I.

“The Bison Stampede will give us a chance to run on the course that will host this year’s South Regional Meet, while the Chile Pepper meet should be a very good test for our team heading into the GSC Championships,” the Tech coach said.

The Golden Suns will then compete at the 2008 GSC Championships on Oct. 24 in Birmingham, Ala. After the GSC Meet, Tech will compete at the NCAA D-II South Regional Meet on Nov. 8 in Searcy, Ark. The 2008 cross country season will conclude on Nov. 22 at the NCAA Division II National Championship Meet in Slippery Rock, Pa. The top four teams and the top four individuals not from the top four teams at regionals qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet.

2008 ARKANSAS TECH CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE

AUGUST

29 (Fri)      Tech Twilight Run (2 milles)                   Russellville          6:30 p.m.

SEPTEMBER

13 (Sat)      at Brooks/Memphis Twilight (5K)               Memphis, Tenn.     6 p.m.

20 (Sat)      at Missouri Southern Stampede (5K)          Joplin, Mo.            8 a.m.

or

20 (Sat)      at Orange Crush Invitational (5K)               Conway, Ark.        8:30 a.m.

27 (Sat)      at Rhodes College Invitational (5K)             Memphis, Tenn.     9 a.m.

OCTOBER

11 (Sat)      at Pre-Regional/Bison Stampede (5K)        Searcy, Ark.           9 a.m.

18 (Sat)      at Chile Pepper Invitational (6K)                 Fayetteville, Ark.    8 a.m.

24 (Fri)      at GSC Championships (5K)                      Birmingham, Ala.    TBA

NOVEMBER

8 (Sat)        NCAA Division II South Regional (6K)         Searcy, Ark.            TBA

22 (Sat)      NCAA Division II Championships (6K)         Slippery Rock, Pa.   TBA

All times listed are Central and subject to change

Home meets are indicated in BOLD

           -- Tech Athletics --