WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
* GSU runs Saturday morning in the 7-team JSU Foothills Invite at Oxford, Ala.
* No. 7 region-ranked Auburn heads the field that includes three Sun Belt Conference teams in Georgia Southern, Troy and GSU.
* Senior Stephanie Berger won GSU's first 5k meet of the season at Mercer and will lead the Panthers into Saturday's race.
The Georgia State cross country team will make its second trip to Oxford, Ala. this season to compete at the JSU Foothills Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville State University, on Saturday. The Panthers go into the meet as the defending individual and team champions from last season.
The women's 5k race will start at 10:30 a.m. ET and will be held at the Oxford Lake and Recreation Area, just off I-20. This will be the team's second race at the 5k distance this season, but this time the course will be flatter and should provide faster times (weather permitting).
GSU's top runner and Sun Belt Runner of the Week, Stephanie Berger, will look to lead the defending champions again this week. “Last year's GSU team dominated the event by sweeping the top four individual places. With last year's top three finishers lost to graduation, the team will look to our lone senior, Stephanie Berger, the winner at last week's 5k race at Mercer) and sophomore returners Jordan Townsley and Nuria Ramirez for top performances,” said head coach Chris England. GSU has scored this season with one senior, two sophomores and two freshmen.
“The young team's goal is to continue to gain experience competing at the 5k distance and to mentally prepare for the championship portion of the season to begin in only four weeks.
Saturday at the JSU Foothills, GSU will be competing against Sun Belt foes Troy and Georgia Southern, which will be another benchmark heading into October and the ensuing Sun Belt Championship on November 1,” England added.
Along with conference schools Troy and Georgia Southern, the other division 1 teams competing are led by Auburn, a team ranked No. 7 in the South Region and winner of two races this fall. Joining the seven-team DI field are Alabama A&M, Kennesaw State, and host Jacksonville State. A field of seven non-D1 schools include Birmingham Southern, Columbus State, Emory, Miles, Spring Hill, Stillman and Tuskegee.
