AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn cross country team will begin the 2022 season by traveling to Oxford, Ala. to compete in the Foothills Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville State University, on Friday. The meet will be held at Choccolocco Park Sports Complex with the women's 4k beginning at 6:00 p.m. CT and the men's 5k beginning at 6:45 p.m. CT.
Entering his second year at the helm, Head Cross Country Coach Aaron Kindt is excited about the team's starting position going into the season.
"I feel really good about where we are depth wise, but with that comes the challenge of wrangling new freshmen," said Kindt.
Running for the men are junior Dustyn Lewis, sophomores Cooper Atkins, Benson Atkins, and Mark Foster, and freshmen Reese Bell, Isaiah Billingsley, Rex Green, Trey Hurt, Joseph Perry and Ethan Snyder.
"The men's side, we have three guys that come in with big time SEC experience from last year, Carson Bedics, Cooper Atkins, and Ryan Kinnane," said Kindt. "All three guys had opportunities and proved themselves to be capable of competing at a high level in the SEC on the track."
The women's group racing in Oxford will include seniors Samantha Rogers and Hannah Tarwater, sophomores Hallie Porterfield and Hannah Thuss, and freshmen Breckin Gould, Kali Holden, and Hailey Marston.
Despite the loss of experienced leaders in All-American Joyce Kimeli and Presley Weems likes his group. "I feel really good about this group, but we are going to have to learn to run as a team. We don't have that veteran front runner yet," said Kindt.
Kindt will lead a group of eight returners and nine newcomers to the line on Friday.
"This is an early season meet, its one where I'm going to put a lot of our freshman out there and give them a chance to get some roles early so, I am probably going to hold back some of our older runners to let them train this week and let the younger kids get a change to have a little pressure put on them," Kindt said.
There will be 15 teams competing including UAB, Troy, Samford, Jacksonville State and Alabama State.
Up Next
The Tigers head to the John Hunt Cross Country Course in Huntsville, Ala. to compete in the North Alabama Showcase on Friday, Sept. 16.