Sept. 24, 2001

Milwaukee - The UWM men's cross country team will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., on Sat., Sept. 29, to run in the Central Collegiate Championships. The men will be running for just the second time as a team on the season, having competed on Sept. 7 at the Valparaiso Invitational in Valparaiso, Ind.

The women's team will also be traveling this weekend, heading to Chicago for the Lakefront Invitational. The women's team also has only ran as a team at the Valparaiso Invitational earlier this year.

Last weekend, the Panthers ran in Al's Memorial Run, an 8K road course run through the streets of Milwaukee to benefit Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The run was not officially team scored.

Both teams have had some individual success this season. The men's team has had strong performances from seniors Cornelius Hill (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) and Pat Harrington (West Allis, Wis./Central) Hill placed sixth at the Valparaiso Invitational, while Harrington led the Panther runners at Al's Memorial Run, placing eighth overall.

The women's team has been paced by junior Abby Hurst (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute). Hurst received the first team score on the run at Valparaiso, and finished third at Al's Memorial Run, a course longer than what the women normally run. Junior Brianne Peterson (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) also had a strong race at Al's Run, placing tenth overall and third in the 19-24 age group.

After this weekend's events, the Panthers will next compete on Fri., Oct. 5, at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. The men's race is scheduled to start around 2:45, following the conclusion of the women's race.

Familiar Faces

The women's team will see many famialiar faces at the Lakefront Invitational this weekend. Horizon League members Cleveland State, Illinois-Chicago, and host Loyola will join the Panthers.

For the men, they will be joined at the Central Collegiate Championships by Detroit. The Central Collegiate Championships are hosted by Western Michigan University.

More About Al's

The men's team took first place in the academic division, comprised of club teams and school organizations, along with other school-related teams. They successfully defended their title that they won a year ago in the same division.

The women placed fourth this year in the academic division. However, the 8K race is much longer than the more common 5K or 6K races that the women's team normally competes in.

A year ago, Pat Harrington placed sixth in the run. His time last year was 17 seconds faster than this year's time.

The Panthers also saw another familiar face at Al's Memorial Run. Aaron Nodolf, a 2000 graduate of UWM and four-year member of the cross country and track teams, finished fourth in this year's race.

Mr. Consistency

Cornelius Hill has been nothing if not consistent. A year ago, Hill ran in Al's Memorial Run as an unattached runner, sitting out the collegiate season due to transfer rules. Hill ran last year's race in 26:09, the same exact time he posted in this year's race.