Members of Auburn's cross-country teams are lacing up their sneakers and getting ready to hit the ground running this weekend.
Saturday, Sept. 4, marks the beginning of the season for Auburn's cross-country teams.
They will run in the annual Troy Invitational meeting in Troy. The men's team will start racing at 9:30 a.m. and the women at 10 a.m.
Auburn competes against cross-country teams from Troy University and other local schools throughout the Montgomery region.
"This meeting is basically the kickoff for the cross-country season," said coach Mark Carroll.
Carroll said the men and women's teams have already put in two weeks of regular practice.
Besides running six days a week, the team added weight training on Mondays and Thursdays to their normal exercise routines to prepare for the meeting.
For runner Jeffery Sanders, junior in architecture, preparation for the meeting began much earlier this summer.
Sanders said he began practicing when he started running in June and working out near the end of July.
"The Invitational is like a warm-up meeting," Sanders said. "It gives us the chance to brush the cobwebs off and see which runners have the competitive edge."
Charles Mitchell, junior in history, said the meeting is a good "rust-buster" and sees it as another hard session of practice.
"The first race is always kind of tough because we haven't run against the competition since the spring track season," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the meeting is also an indicator of how well the team will do that season,
"While the success of a season doesn't hinge on the first meeting, if you don't perform well, you'll have to play catch-up the rest of the season," Mitchell said.
In 2009, both teams enjoyed a strong opening at the Troy Invitational.
Ben Cheruiyot, junior in health promotion, won the 2009 season opener, while Sanders finished in seventh place and Mitchell in 28th.
Holly Knight, senior in psychology, was named SEC Female Athlete of the Week after winning the individual title at the Invitational in 2009.
Stephanie Barnes, senior in health promotion, placed second, while Allison Smith, senior in pre-nursing, finished sixth.
Cheruiyot, Knight and Barnes will not run in the Troy Invitational this year, but are expected to run at the next meeting, Carroll said.
Mitchell is confident they will have another strong season this year and believes they have a good chance of finishing in the top three of the SEC division.
"As a team, we should do pretty well," Mitchell said. "We've got a bunch of new, younger runners, and we should have a few of them make the top five."
Sanders said he and his teammates are pumped about the season starting, especially the freshmen runners who are excited about their first collegiate meet.
"It's like the first football game of the season because we're no longer just training, and all that work you've put in finally gets to be seen," Sanders said. "We're ready to get everything going."
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