EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Seven highly-competitive races are scheduled for the University of Evansville cross country teams this fall, as head coach Don Walters unveiled the 2014 schedule Thursday afternoon.
"This will be the most challenging schedule in my fifteen years of coaching at the college level," said Walters. "Every event will have 15 – 50 teams that will offer a challenging competition for our team."
Walters' strongest racers, senior Josh Genet and junior Lauren Wolfe are expected to lead the team. "[They] will lead the way to victory this season," said Walters of Genet and Wolfe.
The season will begin on Aug. 29 as the team travels to Nashville, Tenn., for the Belmont Invitational. The next week, the Aces make a quick trek to Charleston, Ill. for their race at Eastern Illinois on Sept. 5, followed by the Indiana Intercollegiates at Purdue (Sept. 19).
In October, the team will head east on Interstate 64 for the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 4 before running its lone home meet of the season - the UE Invitational on Oct. 18. The season wraps up in November at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which will be held at Southern Illinois on Nov. 1. The NCAA District Championship will be held in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 14.
On the women's side, Walters loses record-setting runner Kelby Jenkins to graduation. Among those looking to take her spot at the top for UE is Laurel Wolfe. The junior improved throughout her sophomore campaign. Her top finish of the season was a 7th at the UE Invitational where she set her PR in the 5K with an 18:45.23. She registered a 12th place at the 2013 Fleet Foot Invitational. Kirsten Perrey also made strides in her third season. Her career effort came at the Fleet Foot event in Alabama where she ran a career-best 19:01.3 en route to a finish of 7th. She was also UE's no. 2 finisher in the MVC Championships, running a 19:05.6, just four seconds off of her record.
Genet enters his final season for UE and is coming off of an impressive performance as a junior. Genet was the leading finisher in all eight events for the Aces in 2013 with his top finish being a second at the UE Invitational. He recorded another top 3 outing at the Fleet Foot Invitational, taking third. His low 8K time of the season came in the MVC Championships where he posted a 25:13.5 en route to an 18th place finish.
A strong freshman class in 2013 saw several newcomers make immediate impacts on Walters' team. One of those was Ross Frondorf. He started his career with a 17th place finish in the Mid-America Opener while notching three top 20 outings in his inaugural season. His top 8K outing came at the UE Invitational where he set a PR of 26:48.55 in a 14th place effort.
