Cross Country Teams Travel To Big East Championships on Friday

10/27/2004

The men's race begins at 11 a.m. with the women's meet following at 11:50 a.m.

PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh’s cross country teams are gearing up for the Big East Championships this weekend in Boston. The Panthers will face five nationally ranked men’s teams and five nationally ranked women’s teams.

Highlighting the women’s team is senior Maureen McCandless, who has made a huge jump this year in being a national caliber athlete. McCandless has led the team in every meet this year and has placed in the top 10 in both of the interregional competitions, the Great American and National Open. In order to crack into the nationally ranked teams from the Big East, the Panthers will need help from their young runners. Junior Nicole Angstadt, sophomore Suzy Bossart and freshmen Nikki Bielick and Ali Briggs, have consistently improved throughout this year and will have to be competitive this weekend.

On the men’s team, there have been three different team leaders in four meets. Freshman Sam Bair was the newest leader last week at the National Open. Sophomore transfer Tim Konoval was the top Panther finisher at the Duquesne Invitational and the Great American Cross Country Festival. Another freshman, Curtis Larimer, has also had leading finishes. This week Pittsburgh will look for these student-athletes to continue their successes but will also need others to make the same jump to the next level.