Cullowhee, N.C. -- The Catamount men's and women's cross-country teams are back in action on Saturday morning as they take on the Upstate Invite, Western Carolina's third meet of the season. The Catamount women are scheduled to run a 5K beginning at 9 a.m. while the men face their first 8K race of the season.
A combined 25 Catamount runners are scheduled to compete against a wide field of teams. Among the field are Southern Conference foes The Citadel, Furman, Mercer, and Wofford, each expected to compete in the meet It gives the Purple & Gold another opportunity to see how they stack up against conference competition.
"We're very excited about this upcoming race at Upstate. We traditionally run fairly well there and our student-athletes like the true feel of it being a good cross country course," said head coach Jesse Norman. "I feel like these past five weeks have allowed us to get in some great training sessions. Now it's up to the student-athletes to trust their fitness and be aggressive with our race plan."
The Catamounts have run at the Milliken Research Park in each of the last three seasons with the women's team taking a third-place finish in 2022. The men's team took fourth that same year.
Last time out at the Furman Invitational, the Catamounts took fourth and fifth-place finishes as Drew Zink and Katherine Hopkins led their respective squads for the second straight meet. Zink finished 25th overall on the men's side with a time of 18:46.5, while Hopkins' time of 23:18.6 took 38th in the women's race.
Saturday's Meet Information:
Upstate Invite | 920 Milliken Road, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Live Results: https://tinyurl.com/4c64bybu
Women's 5K: 9:00 a.m.
Men's 8K: 9:45 a.m.
Men's Teams: Allen, Anderson, Bob Jones, Brevard, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, Davidson, Emory, Flagler, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville State, Johnson & Wales, Lander, Longwood, Mercer, Montreat, Oxford College, Stetson, Toccoa Falls, UNC Asheville, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort, USC Upstate, West Georgia, Western Carolina, Wofford
Women's Teams: Agnes Scott, Allen, Anderson, Bob Jones, Brevard, Emory, Flagler, Gardner-Webb, Gaston College, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Johnson & Wales, Lander, Longwood, Mercer, Montreat, Newberry, North Georgia, Oxford College, South Carolina, Stetson, UNC Asheville, USC Aiken, USC Upstate, USC Beaufort, West Georgia, Western Carolina, Wofford
Up Next for the Catamounts:
Western Carolina returns to Greenville, S.C. for the Furman hosted- Southern Conference cross-country championships on Saturday, Nov. 2. The NCAA Southeast Regionals are scheduled for November 15 in Rock Hill, S.C.
