AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn cross country team returns to action Friday as it travels to Huntsville, Alabama to compete in the Southern Showcase hosted by Jacksonville State. The meet will be held at the John Hunt Cross Country Park with the men starting at 7:30 a.m. CT and the women at 8:30 a.m. CT. The men are running an 8k and the women a 5k.
Both the men and women won their season opener on September 15 at the Foothill Invitational in Oxford, Alabama. Going forward, cross country head coach Aaron Kindt knows that the meets are going to get tougher and tougher.
"This is the time of the season where the meets start to count toward qualifying for championships and we know that at this meet we get a chance to see some of the SEC championships contenders," said Kindt.
Over the last two weeks, the team has been preparing for this week and they are excited to keep the positive momentum rolling.
A total of 22 Tigers, 12 men and 10 women will be competing. This includes the two runners that finished first in the season opener, freshman Mary Mac Collins and junior Cooper Atkins. All the runners from the Foothills Invitational are going to run as well.
"This team has bigger goals than going out and running PRs," said Kindt. "Obviously, you always want to run your best, but I want to see how this team stacks up and they want to see where they stack up against the best in the SEC. This is an opportunity to see that."
Auburn gets a chance to show off the whole squad against some SEC rivals including Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Looking Ahead
Auburn cross country travels to Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts to compete in the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown on Friday, September 29.