Oct. 20, 2005

BEAUMONT, Texas - The Lamar University cross country teams will run their last meet before the Southland Conference championships, running at the NSU Invitational at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La.

Originally the Lamar Invitational was to be run earlier in the week in Beaumont, but damage from Hurricane Rita caused that meet to be cancelled. Lamar was also scheduled to host the Southland Conference championship on October 31, but it was moved for the same reason. Northwestern State, who will also be hosting the SLC championship meet, picked up their second invitational this season.

The women will get things started with a 4,000 meter run at 4 p.m., while the men will start a 6,000 meter run at 4:30 p.m. Both races will be held at the Northwestern State soccer complex.

The Lamar women have had solid outings all season, winning their first meet of the season over McNeese State, placing second at the Crimson Classic hosted by the University of Alabama and second at the Auburn Invitational.

The Lady Cardinals have twice been led by freshman Renee Graham who placed fifth at the Crimson Classic and 11th at the Auburn Invitational. Despite being listed as a freshman, Graham is no stranger to the SLC. She was an all-conference performer in indoor track last year, placing third in the 3,000 meter run and fourth in the 5,000 meter run.

Also turning in strong performances this season are Clerc Koenic, Stacey Monteau, Jacqueline John, Amanda King, Natasha Williams and Amber Prather.

The Cardinal men have also run strong this season, winning their dual meet with McNeese, placing third at the Crimson Classic and 15th at the Auburn Invitational. Danny Shaw has been the top finisher for Lamar in all three of their meets, placing first, seventh and 19th in the three meets.

Cross country coach Sita Waru said this seven-team meet will be a good challenge for the Cardinal men and women as they prepare for the conference championship.

"We are going to have good look at where we are going into the conference championship," she said. "We have been training hard and have had some good results so far this season. We just have to keep pushing ourselves to continue to get better."