Sept. 26, 2007
AUBURN -
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The Auburn men's and women's cross country teams will host the Tiger Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Indian Pines Golf Course. This marks the 15th year for the event, which will include 38 teams (17 men and 21 women) from 21 schools around the country. The women's 5k race will begin at 9:30 a.m. CT, with the men's 8k race to follow at 10:15 a.m.
Auburn's women finished second to Iowa at last year's meet, while the Tiger men will be looking to make a big jump from last year's 15th-place performance. The Hawkeyes' Diane Nukuri was the individual women's champion last season, while Barnabas Kirui of Ole Miss won the men's individual title and Stephen F. Austin won the men's team title.
"We are very excited to be hosting the Tiger Invite at Indian Pines," said head coach Peter Watson. "Our kids are excited to race in front of friends and family here in Auburn on such a wonderful course. Indian Pines offers us one of the fastest cross country courses in the country, and with how dry it has been as of late, we expect to have a great competition."
Iowa is back to defend its title in the women's race, and the 14th-ranked Hawkeyes enter the meet as the highest-ranked team in the field. Florida, ranked 30th nationally, should join Auburn in giving Iowa a tough competition.
In the men's race, Auburn will face stiff competition from Florida, which is ranked third in the South Region and receiving votes for the national rankings.
Both Auburn teams are very young this season, but both teams have already shown drastic improvement from last season. The men's team has won team titles at both meets at which it competed - the UT-Chattanooga Invitational and the Bulldog Stampede Invitational - while the women tied for second in Chattanooga and placed third at Georgia.
Sophomore Felix Kiboiywo has been the top male collegiate finisher at both events this season, and was named the SEC Male Athlete of the Week following his performance at the Bulldog Stampede. The Tigers are a balanced team, though, as sophomores Simon Nyang and Scott Novack and senior Patrick Philbin have all posted high finishes for Auburn so far this season.
"We are very pleased to have come out of the Georgia meet feeling quite well," said Watson. "I was a little concerned we might have been a bit fatigued, considering many of the guys were once again around 90 to 100 miles last week, but they did not miss a step and we were able to continue training hard again this week. This is a very motivated squad and I am impressed with how hard they are willing to work.
"Once again we will be led by Felix Kibioywo who is getting better by the week. We expect a very low number from him to lead the team, hopefully a one or two. Following Felix, the group of Simon, Pat, Scott, Chase (Oliver) and Joby (Peake) should be able to run as a tight pack. Simon and Pat ran quite well last week and if Scott, Chase and Joby can finish closer to them, we will be pretty happy at the end of the day.
"Having Florida here, a team that is ranked third in our region, is a great thing for this meet. We are very happy that Coach (Jeff) Pigg brought his squad here to the Plains and we are excited about competing with them and all the other teams this week."
Auburn's women will welcome back Hollie Knight, who missed the Bulldog Stampede after winning the individual title at the UT-Chattanooga Invitational. Sophomores Laurel Pritchard and Sabrina Fischer, as well as freshman Amber Riley, join Knight to give Auburn a solid top four.
"Hollie Knight will again be racing for us and we expect her to be racing for a top-five finish," said Watson. "She should be closely followed by Laurel Pritchard, Sabrina Fischer and Amber Riley who continue to train at a very high level and are getting more confident and fit by the week. We really need Allison Smith, Cathryn Albright and Katelyn Simpson to close the gap between our fourth runner and them.
"As for the team race, we expect a very competitive race with Iowa and Florida. Iowa ran very well here last year and we expect them to come and compete well again this year, I would like to thank Coach (Layne) Anderson for coming back again. This is the first time we have seen Florida this year. They are a very talented squad and make this meet even more competitive."
Auburn, Florida and the Iowa women will also be joined by SEC rival LSU. Other schools competing at the Tiger Invitational include: Alabama State, Alabama-Huntsville, Anderson (S.C.), Austin Peay, Columbus State, Davidson (women only), Georgia Southern (women only), Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, North Georgia, Samford, Spartanburg Methodist, Troy, Tulane (women only), Louisiana-Monroe and West Georgia.