CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina men's and women's cross country teams compete for the Southern Conference title on Saturday as the Catamounts head to the Lexington Golf and Country Club in Lexington, Va., for the annual conference meet.
The women's 5K race is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. followed by the men's 8K race at 10:45 a.m. Spectators are permitted to attend the event with free admission. Spectator parking is also available at the course.
Live results will be available via a link on CatamountSports.com.
"We're looking forward to this weekend's competition," said WCU head coach
Jesse Norman, who won the men's race and was the SoCon Runner of the Year back in 2001. "This is the biggest meet of the fall for the program and is one that I feel can set the tone for the spring. We've been coming along nicely since our last competition. We're hoping the weather cooperates this weekend as that could be a factor in how everyone does."
Senior
Kate Mattison has been the top finishing women's runner in all three meets this season with a pair of top-five finishes. Mattison ran a personal best 18:08 at the Asics/Alexander Invitational earlier this month, which is the eighth-fastest time in program history. At the 2020 SoCon Championships, Mattison earned second-team All-Conference accolades with an eighth-place result. Sophomore
Sydney Runyan has been WCU's second-finishing runner this fall followed by a group of freshmen in
Alesea Caldwell,
Sara Klemm,
Madelynn Duffield,
Madeleine Wagner, and
Isabelle Broman-Fulks that have each been part of WCU's top five this season.
The men's team has been led by the freshmen duo of
Will Mitchell and
Justin Hayes. Mitchell paced the Catamounts in the season-opening Covered Bridge Open, while Hayes scored a sixth-place finish at the Asics/Alexander Invitational and led WCU at the Upstate Invitational. In addition to Mitchell and Hayes, sophomore
Drew Zink, junior
Jalen Elwell, freshman
Jordan McHugh, and junior
Clay Summers have been in the top five.
WCU heads to the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship on Nov. 12 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount cross country and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports) and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountxctf).
