The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers To Compete Against Nation's Top Teams
9/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Sept. 27, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB cross country will have its first taste of national competition of the season this weekend as the Blazers travel to South Bend, Ind. to take part in the Notre Dame Invitational, one of the nation's oldest and largest intercollegiate cross country meets.
The Blazers will race in the Blue Division race in the second of two women's competitions, and will be tested against seven nationally-ranked teams as well as three others that received votes in the latest USTFCCCA national poll released on Tuesday.
Among the top teams competing are No. 2 Michigan, No. 7 Illinois, and No. 11 Providence.
"Notre Dame is a great meet we enjoy going to every year," head coach Ray Stanfield said. "It's our first shot each year at running against some of the top teams in the nation."
After a first-place finish two weeks ago at the Crimson Classic, the Blazers enter the meet with an experienced laden group of runners that understands the importance of the weekend's meet.
"I told the girls this is the meet that everyone reads about, so if you want to be somebody this is the race to do it," Stanfield said. "I told them what it would take to be top 8 and it's something that I think we can do."
UAB will race in the Blue Division at 4:15 p.m. ET on Friday. The division features some of the nation's highest-ranked teams with 21 teams overall competing for the team title.
One of the keys for a top finish will be the middle runners, Stanfield said. He believes his runners may complete the 5k course in a good time but still finish somewhere near 40th place, since so many top runners from across the country will be competing in the meet.
The Blazers will also find out where they stand against two of the top Conference USA schools as Rice and Southern Methodist are planning to compete in the event. Both teams earned first-place votes in the preseason conference poll, while the Blazers had seven of the 11 total votes.
Although the race will be the first time competing against conference teams this fall, Stanfield said because of the number of runners it may or may not give an idea how teams may race at the C-USA Championship in late October.
"It will be interesting to see how we stack up against the other two conference schools," he said. "We could beat them in a big race but maybe not in a smaller race because the times may be the same, but others could finish in between them. That won't happen at conference. But we'll see where they are time-wise on the same race and the same day."
Additionally, it will be the first race of the season where UAB has a chance to earn points towards earning a trip to the national championship later this season. Points are awarded by placing higher than other schools in your region. The three region schools that plan to compete are Florida Atlantic, Mississippi State and Florida State. UAB is currently fifth in the NCAA South Regional poll that was released Monday.
The meet marks the 52nd running of the Notre Dame Invitational, which is held at the nine-hole university golf course on campus. The meet which is broken up into a Gold and Blue division for men's and women's races, will feature 54 schools from across the country. The Blue Division features only top Division I programs in the nation, while the Gold Division is a mixtures of schools from NCAA Divisions I, II and III.
Last year at the Notre Dame Invitational, the Blazers placed 16th in the Blue Division.
