Oct. 26, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's and women's cross country teams will be gunning for a Southern Conference team and individual titles this Saturday, Oct. 28, at the annual SoCon Cross Country Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. This year's event will be held at the Moccasin Bend course with the women running at 10:00 am followed by the men at 10:45 am.

More information on the 2006 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship, including driving directions and event scoring, can be found by clicking HERE. 

"Our number one goal is to finish better or higher than we did last year as a team, and we feel like we are very capable of doing just that," said Western head coach Danny Williamson. "Both squads began the season with a tremendous amount of inexperience as far as competing at the collegiate level. It has been fun to see this group grow and start to gain confidence in their abilities as an individual and as a team."

The SoCon conducted its first cross country championship in 1926. Western Carolina has never captured the team title. However, the Catamounts do have championship experience on their side as current assistant coach, Jesse Norman, ranks as the only WCU runner to have ever captured the individual championship, doing so back in 2001. He also represents WCU's lone SoCon Runner of the Year.

The Catamount men in '06 will be led by senior Dan Fassinger. The Snellville, Ga., native's best 8K time of the season - 25:50 at the Blue Ridge Open - ranks 13th in the SoCon this season and he is the lone Catamount inside the conference's top 20 rankings. Western will also need a strong performance from its only other upperclassman, junior Dylan Hermelee, who ran inside the top 50 last season.

Senior Dan Fassinger ranks 13th in the SoCon and will look to lead the Catamount men to the front of the pack on Saturday.

Western will look to underclassmen to tighten up as points are awarded on an ascending scale based upon the descending finishing order. Sophomores Jesse Ramirez, Field Miller and Noah Taylor all have experience in the conference meet, all finishing from 51st to 58th at last year's championship. But it will be the remaining freshmen that are making their first appearance at the conference meet that will need to step it up to have a chance at a top team finish.

Appalachian State is the defending men's champion, capturing last year's title in Statesboro, Ga., to give the Mountaineers a conference-best eight titles all-time, the most among active SoCon schools. Former conference member, William & Mary, holds the record for most titles with 15, including an unprecedented 10-straight from 1966-75. East Tennessee State ranks second with 14 titles, followed by North Carolina with 13, the last of which coming in 1946. WCU men's best-ever finish at the SoCon meet is second back in 1993, finishing as the runners-up to ASU. The Catamounts have also finished third on five occasions, with the most recent coming in 2002.

For Western's women, junior Kerrie Savery has been the most consistent runner this season for the Catamounts leading the team at every event. Much like Fassinger, Savery is the lone WCU runner in the SoCon's top 20 from the regular season, posting her best 5K time of 18:45 at the season-opening Clemson Invitational where she finished second. Also this season, Savery has posted a third-place run at the Greater Louisville Classic on Sept. 30.

Sophomore Skye Aiello and freshman Lindsay Groce rank 35th and 36th, respectively, on the SoCon performance charts this season, also turning in their best times at the Clemson Invitational with seventh and an eighth place finish. Like Savery, Aiello posted a top 10 finish at the Greater Louisville Classic.

The Catamount women's best-ever team finish is third accomplished a total of three times with the most recent coming in 2001. Since 1994, Western's best individual finish was a fourth-place run by Kristen Savery, who is Kerrie's older sister, back in 1995. During that same time frame, Jenny Warfford turned in the Catamounts' best individual time of 18:39 back in 1997.

Junior Kerrie Savery has led WCU's women's cross country team all season long and ranks 12th in the SoCon.

"We have several individuals that have the opportunity to make a run at the all-conference team, but again, I think that our student-athletes are more focused on what we can accomplish as a team," concluded Williamson. "Both squads have the opportunity to surprise others in the SoCon because no one expects big things from them this season as most considered this a rebuilding year. But with the development, growth and experience gained throughout this season, we feel like this is going to be a big weekend for us."

Full results of the 2006 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship will be posted at SoConSports.com and on CatamountSports.com as soon as they are made available on Saturday afternoon. Live audio of the event will be provided by the SoCon Sports Network and should be available on www.SoCon.tv.