Oct. 30, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Saint Joseph's cross country teams travel to the campus of Charlotte for the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championships on Saturday. The women's race will kick off the action at 10:00 a.m. while the men will toe the line at 10:45 a.m.

The Charlotte 49ers are a first-time host of the Championships, which were captured by both La Salle squads in 2007. Both Hawk squads attended the Bojangles Invitational in September, which was run on the same route as the Championships' course.

The men's squad is pegged to finish third according to the most recent A-10 cross country coaches poll from October 20. That vote came on the heels of an impressive showing by the Hawks at the Princeton Invitational in which Saint Joseph's placed second behind hosts, Princeton and a point ahead of A-10 rival, Duquesne.

That race saw 2007 Atlantic 10 All-Conference runner Kyle Murray cross the tape first for the Hawks, completing the course in fourth place. Following Murray was sophomore Brian Guterl in fifth place.

Helping Murray and Guterl in their quest for SJU's first A-10 Championship since 2000 will be freshman sensation and three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, Kevin McDonnell; 2005 All-Atlantic 10 honoree, Will Rowland; and juniors Jonathan Sclafani and Jimmy Jennings providing Mike Glavin's squad the tools in which to succeed.

UMass and La Salle are tabbed to finish one-two by the A-10 coaches come Saturday. The Hawks finished fifth last year on Belmont Plateau. If SJU does live up to its third-place prediction, it would be the highest finish for the Hawks since 2003 when Saint Joseph's completed its third straight runner up Championship performance.

Leading the SJU women's team is three-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference performer Andrea Florida, who finished 12th in last year's competition, leading Saint Joseph's to team eighth-place finish. The Hawks are currently picked eighth by the coaches of the Conference out of 14.

Florida led Saint Joseph's to a second place finish behind Charlotte at the Bojangles Invitational in September in a time of 19:46.1. Two freshmen, Kelsey Rose (20:06.1) and Kathleen Casey (20:08.3) backed Florida up.

EVENT: Atlantic 10 Championships
WHERE: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
WHEN: November 1, 10:00 a.m.
WHO: All 14 A-10 member schools sponsor men's and women's cross country. UMass is tabbed the favorite on the men's side while Richmond has the women's honors. SJU men are picked third, the women eighth.