Murray State University Athletics
MSU Set To Host OVC Championships
10/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
The Racer and Lady Racer cross country programs are set for the biggest meet of the year as Murray State will host the 2003 Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Futures Golf Course in Puryear, Tenn.
The meet will begin at 10 a.m. CT with the women's event, a 5,000-meter run, while the men's event, an 8,000-meter run, will begin at 10:45 a.m. CT. The awards ceremony will begin at approximately 11:45 p.m. CT.
"I've always viewed the opportunity to host a conference or national championship meet as a real honor," said second-year MSU cross country head coach Norbert Elliott. "There's a lot of work that goes into organizing and preparing for this type of thing, but we really believe it's a great thing for our program, university and community."
The Futures Golf Course is located approximately 15 miles from the MSU campus, and even though the event is not in Murray, it should be a bit of a home-course advantage for the Racer and Lady Racer runners.
"Our kids have had the opportunity to run the course and become familiar with it," Elliott said. "I think it's certainly advantageous for us to host the cross country championships because no two courses are the same. Hopefully, it'll help us out a little bit."
Elliott expects the reigning OVC champions from Eastern Kentucky (women) and Eastern Illinois (men) to be the favorites once again this year.
"I think Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri should be the favorites on the women's side, along with Eastern Illinois and EKU on the men's side," Elliott said. "With the addition of Jacksonville State and Samford to our conference, I feel like a top-4 finish four our men and women would be fantastic."
The MSU men's squad earned third in last year's conference championships at Morehead State, while the Lady Racers earned a fourth-place finish.
Complete results for the 2003 OVC Cross Country Championships will be available here at GoRacers.com or www.ovcsports.com on Saturday afternoon following the completion of the meet.
