Marquette Unveils Cross Country Schedule
7/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Golden Eagles to take part in nine meets in 2005
MILWAUKEE ? Head cross country coach Dave Uhrich unveiled the 2005 Marquette men's and women's cross country schedule. The slate pits Marquette up against some of the top cross country teams in the nation through out its nine-meet schedule.
The schedule is similar to the 2004 slate. The team will start competition at the Bradley Open on Friday, Sept. 9. Both the men's and women's teams won the event in 2004 to start the season. After a Sept. 17 visit to Kenosha for the Midwest Collegiate Open, Marquette will take part in the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis on Sept. 24.
A trip to Chicago for the Loyola Lakefront invitational precedes the Oct. 15 Pre-NCAA meet at the Laverne Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind., the site of the 2005 NCAA Championships.
"We really like the schedule. It's very similar to the schedules of the past couple of years," head coach Dave Uhrich said. "We have a couple of big meets like the Roy Griak and the pre-NCAA meet which will prepare us for good competition later in the season."
On Friday, Oct. 28, Marquette will take part in its first BIG EAST Championships. The cross country league title race will take place at Van Courtland Park in The Bronx, N.Y. Marquette competed at the 2004 Iona Meet of Champions on the same course to prepare for the BIG EAST race.
"Last year we went to a meet in N.Y. on the same course, so that will be a benefit to us," Uhrich said. "Otherwise, we won't really approach anything differently. We have a couple of big meets to prepare us for what it's going to be like at the BIG EAST meet."
The season winds down on Saturday, Nov. 12 with the Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, Ind., as the Marquette women will try to qualify for its sixth straight NCAA Championship appearance.
"We have a string of five straight nationals appearances and we want to continue that," Uhrich said. "All seven runners from the women's team are back and we are confident that we can be an even better team."
The men's team will be looking for its first trip to the NCAA Championships.
"On the men's side, we took a little step back last season, but we have most of the team back for this year," Uhrich said. "We have a renewed goal to place higher in the BIG EAST than we did last year in Conference USA."
The NCAA Championships will be held on Monday, Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.
Click here for 2005 Marquette cross country schedule.
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