Oct. 22, 2001

MILWAUKEE - The UWM cross country teams will compete this weekend in the Horizon League Championships, held at Montrose Harbor in Chicago. Joining the Panthers will be Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit, UIC, Loyola, UW-Green Bay, Wright State and Youngstown State.

Horizon League History Lesson: The Panthers will be looking to improve on their standings from a year ago. The men's team finished fourth, just one point behind Wright State, while the women finished third, one point behind Butler for second.

Individually, the Panthers had a top-three finisher in both the men's and women's races. For the women, junior Abby Hurst (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute) finished third, just five seconds behind the race's winner. In the men's race, Aaron Nodolf, a spring graduate of UWM, finished third. The top returning runner for the Panthers is senior Pat Harrington (West Allis, Wis./Central), who finished 12th a year ago.

Who to Watch: The women's team will be led by junior Abby Hurst. Hurst has been the top finisher in each of the Panthers' races in 2001. In just her first race of the 2001 season, Hurst was almost 30 seconds ahead of her top time at the same distance of a year ago. The Horizon League Championship will be run at 5K, where Hurst's top time in 2001 is only five seconds behind her third place finish of a year ago, set on Oct. 5 at the Notre Dame Invitational, where she finished with the third team placing.

On the men's side, senior Cornelius Hill (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) will be the runner to watch. Hill has four of the top 10 times on the team this year. Hill's best time of 25:08, set at the Notre Dame Invitational, should put him in the mix for the individual title.

Scouting the Competition: Butler will again be strong on the men's side. The Bulldogs dominated last year's championships, taking five of the top six counting places and scoring just 18 points. This year, Butler finished ninth among 35 of the top schools in the country at the NCAA Pre-National meet in Greenville, S.C. Loyola has also been strong, having been ranked in the midwest region for much of the season.

For the women, Loyola will again be strong. The Ramblers have dominated most meets they've run in 2001 and are again ranked in the Midwest Region.

Familiar Ground: The women's team will be running on the course at Montrose Harbor for the second time in 2001. The women's team ran at the Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola, on Sept. 29. There, the women's team finished seventh out of 14 teams.

Individually, the women were led by Abby Hurst, who ran the 5K course in 18:37. Four of the women's team's top 10 times on the year came at the Lakefront Invitational.

The men's team did not compete at the Lakefront Invitational. The men instead ran at the Central Collegiate Championships, placing fourth out of five teams. However, the men's team did not have either Cornelius Hill or Pat Harrington running that weekend.

Up Next: The Panthers will have another week off after the Horizon League Championships to prepare for the Great Lakes Region IV Championships on Nov. 11 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Great Lakes Championships are the qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, which will be held Nov. 20 in Furman, S.C.