Sept. 22, 2005

Athens, Ga.-- This week the University of Georgia men's and women's cross country teams return to action when they travel to Cary, N.C., to compete in the Nike Race of Champions at the Great American Cross Country Festival. Below is a preview of both the men's and women's races:

Men

Schools scheduled to compete: No. 18 North Carolina State, No. 19 William & Mary, Georgia, Central Michigan, North Carolina, Charlotte, Duke, Wake Forest. U.S. Military Academy, Clemson, Abilene Christian, Stephen F. Austin, Virginia, Richmond

Although it's still very early in the 2005 cross country season, this week's Nike Race of Champions will be a big one for the University of Georgia men's cross country team. Coming off its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships in 2004, the Bulldogs are hoping to make it a third straight after never having made it to NCAAs as a team prior to the 2003 season. Needing to make up for some key losses from last year's team, the squad will have a better understanding after this weekend of what kind of work lies ahead in order to remain one of the top 25 teams in the country by season's end.

"This is a solid group of schools that we are going to be competing against this weekend," said UGA cross country coach Dave Hartman. "In addition to two Top 25 schools (No. 18 North Carolina State and No. 19 William and Mary) you've also got Clemson and Charlotte which both finished ahead of us two weeks ago so this will be a good measuring stick of where we're at right now."

Two weeks ago at the season-opening Clemson Invitational, the Bulldogs finished 26 points behind second-place Charlotte and 33 points behind first-place Clemson despite having two top-10 finishers. Although they would have liked to finish higher as a team, Hartman said the Bulldogs did a good job considering where they were in their training.

"I thought the guys responded really well at Clemson," said Hartman. "All of them worked really hard coming into that meet and so our finish was a good one considering most of them were running on tired legs."

Although they were off from competition last week, it is possible that many Bulldog runners will still be feeling the effects of their training regimen which has been an arduous one over the last two weeks.

"We've been training and doing a lot of miles, some of us upwards of 85-90 miles a week," said senior Mike Swope. "Our legs will be tired (this weekend), but that is how our training is designed so that we will be able to peak in November."

For Swope, the training takes on even more importance as he looks to get back into peak physical condition after having some trouble training in the offseason because of injuries."

According to sophomore Charlie Dickhaus, the team's most important goal heading into this weekend's meet is to be able to improve on its performance at Clemson, which is something he feels the Bulldogs will be able to accomplish.

"I think we are going to have a good team race this weekend," said Dickhaus. "Our workouts have been going very well and we have made drastic improvements each week in our fitness levels. We still have a lot of growing to do but we are far ahead of where we were going into Clemson."

Dickhaus was Georgia's second-highest finisher (10th place) behind junior Ian Burrell (2ns place) at Clemson. Despite only being in his second year, Dickhaus said he is up for the challenge of doing whatever he can to help Georgia, not only this weekend, but also in helping it keep its current annual status of being among the nation's Top 25 teams.

"I feel that for the team to do well this weekend I am going to have to step up quite a bit from where I have been running to make an impact at a national level," said Dickhaus. "It is a lot to bite off, but this is what I train hard for and I am ready to take relatively large measured risks to help both myself and more importantly the team."

Women

Schools scheduled to compete: No. 2 Duke, No. 6 Brigham Young, No. 9 North Carolina State, No. 21 Georgia, No. 29 Virginia, Alabama-Birmingham, Charlotte, U.S. Military Academy, South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Abilene Christian, Richmond, William & Mary

After finishing in first place at the Clemson Invitational two weeks ago, the University of Georgia women's cross country team will make a big step up in competition at this weekend's Nike Race of Champions. Joining the Lady Bulldogs in the field will also be four of the current top 30 teams in the country, including three of the top 6 - No. 2 Duke, No. 6 Brigham Young and No. 9 North Carolina State.

"We are going to be facing some tough competition this week and that is going to be a good thing for our team," said UGA cross country coach Dave Hartman. "For every team out there that aspires to be the best, it is important to see how you stack up with those elite teams in order to get a better understanding of where you are."

In their victory at Clemson, the Lady Bulldogs dominated the field as all five of their scoring runners finished in the Top 10. Among those runners was senior Lauren Burks, who finished in seventh place. While Burks feels the Lady Bulldogs will have a big challenge ahead of them with such a competitive field, there is one other variable she feels that will also provide a test.

"Personally, I feel that North Carolina is one of the toughest cross country courses and I am looking forward to competing there," said Burks. "As a team, I feel that we are ready to face some competition and see how we are doing. I think we want to go out and compete hard and see how we place against come of the traditionally good teams like Duke and North Carolina."

Despite how teams finish on Saturday, Hartman noted that in some cases the results will tell little in terms of forecasting what may or may not happen later in the year.

"This early in the season a lot of teams are in different places as far as training," said Hartman. "Some teams are doing faster interval work and others are working hard in their training right now and so in some cases it is really hard to tell how good a team really is for those reasons."

Added freshman Jill Skinner, "Because we have not done much speed work our times might not be the fastest, but I think we are all in phenomenal shape right now and all eager to run hard Saturday."

For Skinner, the meet at Clemson was her first as a Lady Bulldog and although she finished 29th, she said the experience was an important one.

"The first meet at Clemson was an okay race for me," said Skinner. "My legs felt really heavy and my time was not stellar, but I am extremely happy that we raced there first. It was a lower-key meet, and I think I needed it because I tend to get extremely nervous before I race for the first time each season."

Prior to coming to Georgia, Skinner made her mark as one of the top high school distance runners in the country at Brentwood High School in Nashville, Tenn. Last year Skinner finished fourth at the Foot Locker South Regional meet and 19th at the prestigious Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. Now she find herself making the adjustment to competing at the collegiate level, which is something she hopes does not take a long time so that she will be able to contribute in her first year at Georgia.

"I am working right now on getting everything together, like rest and nutrition, so that I can be at my very best," explained Skinner. "I feel that workouts are going better than they ever have, so hopefully by the time the SEC Championships come, I will be a major contributor to the team."

In the short term, Skinner feels that she and the rest of her teammates will be ready for the challenge that lies ahead this weekend.

"I feel that we are extremely well-prepared for this weekend's meet. We all have been training hard and taking care of ourselves. This race should be a great showing for us and a great indicator of where we are."