AUBURN, Ala.—The Auburn cross country team will compete in its second meet of the 2019 season when it competes in the 16th annual Commodore Classic on Saturday, September 14, in Nashville. The meet will be held at Percy Warner Park (Vaughn's Gap cross country course) with the men's 8k race beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT followed by the women's 6k will begin at 9:15 a.m.
The field will feature competitive teams from the SEC and Big Ten along with other teams in the region and will be hosted by Vanderbilt University.
"It's going to be very competitive," Auburn head coach David Barnett said. "It's going to be a nice variety. It'll be some people we've seen before, some teams that we haven't seen before. It's a good opportunity and chance to see where we are."
The men's line-up will remain the same from the JSU Strut two weeks ago with seven Tigers competing. Freshman Hunter Harwell led the men in the opener, finishing second in 15:38.90 over 5k.
"On the men's side, everyone will be racing," Barnett said. "I think we're much more prepared for an 8k than a 5k. It'll be good to see what the men can do out on a solid field."
Eight women will be competing for Auburn at the Commodore Classic, as redshirt sophomore Faith Bett will be competing for the first time since 2017. Sophomore Abbey Zane won her first collegiate race, capturing the Strut's Opener in 14:36.10, two weeks ago. Zane along with teammates GiGi Maddox and Hannah Tarwater claimed three of the top five spots at the meet.
"On the women's side, one addition we'll definitely have from the Jacksonville State race will be Faith Bett," Barnett said. "Faith redshirted last year, but her freshman year she was All-SEC as a freshman. She's definitely come a long way since then, and she's ready to race."
The Tigers prepare to race on any course throughout various training routes around Auburn.
"The biggest thing I'm looking for is people taking advantage of the opportunity to race people with good competition," Barnett said. "Don't wait until the end of the season to get competitive either—that's the biggest thing."
The Tigers next meet will be the Joe Piane Invitational on Friday, October 4, in South Bend, Ind.