Cross Country Kicks Off 2003 Season
September 05, 2003 | Cross Country
Sept. 5, 2003
LUBBOCK, Texas - Tech cross country teams head to Arlington, Texas for the season opener at the UT-Arlington Invite on Saturday. The race, held at The Gerald Richey Cross Country Course at Vandergriff Park, is four miles for men and two miles for the women.
The 2003 squad will unite 13 returnees and ten newcomers, with high hopes after a low finish last season in the Big 12. Head coach Burke Binning feels like both the men's and women's team will be capable of elevating the team to high success.
"On the men's team we have a strong nucleus of runners including Joseph McCellon, Kyle Atwood and Dwayne Benoit. Now we are just looking for a couple of others to step up."
The squad finished 12th last year in conference and made a 16th place at the Midwestern regional. Their best showing in 2002 came at the Kachina Classic where the team finished in second place.
Binning views this years women's team as a stepping-stone to take the program to a higher level, possibly even national level.
"I think we have great potential for success maybe even national qualifiers. We have a deep team full of good runners. We are a seven solid deep on the women's team."
The women's squad finished ninth in conference last season, with a 10th place finish at regionals. The squad best finish was also at the Kachina Classic where they won the meet title.
Races begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Players Mentioned
