July 8, 2009

2009 Western Carolina Cross Country Schedule

Cullowhee, N.C. - Four regular season races including one at home preceding the Southern Conference Championship highlight the 2009 Western Carolina Catamount Men's and Women's Cross Country schedule released today by head coach Danny Williamson.

"We are looking forward to our upcoming season," said Williamson. "The schedule will provide us with a great challenge and the opportunity to battle some of the top squads in our region, while at the same time allowing both our men's and women teams the opportunity to grow and learn how to be able to depend on each other on a weekly basis. It will also allow us to become more competitive as each week passes throughout the season."

The Catamount Cross Country season will open on Friday, Sept. 4 on-campus in Cullowhee with the Western Carolina Invitational. The women's race will start at 5:30 pm and be followed immediately by the men's race.

Two weeks later, WCU will run in either the UGA Invitational in Athens, Ga., or in Rock Hill, S.C., at the Winthrop Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19. Either way, the squad will continue its season the first weekend of October at the Charlotte Invitational on Friday, Oct. 2.

The annual grudge-match between the harriers from Appalachian State and WCU will take place in the Blue Ridge Open on Friday, Oct. 16 in Boone. In addition to competing against a full field, the rival Catamounts and Mountaineers will compete for little brown jugs in the same spirit as the football match-up, "the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug."

The season will culminate with the annual SoCon Cross Country Championships, hosted this year by Elon on Saturday, Oct. 31. The NCAA Cross Country Southeast Regional will be held in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 14, with the NCAA Championships to be contested on Monday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Catamount men return a strong nucleus from a season ago, headlined by Stephen Hammond, who paced the squad in four events a year ago. The Midlothian, Va., native is joined by rising junior Stephon Roach and rising sophomore, Josey Weaver, who was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team a season ago.

Rising senior Danielle Shaurette and junior Jordan Gaddy headline the returning cast on the women's side for the Catamounts, as well as Lindsay Groce who posted the squad's lone first-place finish last year in tripping the tape ahead of three teammates in the WCU Open.

"I feel that we have a great opportunity in front of us to make a significant move upward in the SoCon standings," Williamson concluded. "With the returning depth and our incoming talent, if we can all mesh together and form that great team chemistry we could come up with something special this season."

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