Tuskegee opens XC season on the road
TUSKEGEE, Ala. (goldentigersports.com) — For the second consecutive season, the Tuskegee University cross country program will open the season in Oxford (Ala.), running in the Strut’s Season Opener hosted by Jacksonville State University.
“This meet will be for us to gain valuable experience for the rest of the season,” Tuskegee head cross country coach Edward Colvin said. “This is not a meet where we are going in thinking we are going to win the meet, but it is a chance to see where we stand. We just want to get better each week throughout the season and get ready for the conference meet.”
The meet will be run on Friday night in Oxford, beginning with the women running a 4k at 6 pm. The men will run a 5k beginning at 6:30 pm on the same course.
“This is a meet to see where stand as individuals and then as a team,” Colvin said. “It will help us prepare, and at the end of the day, we want to run against the best to help us prepare.”
Tuskegee returns several runners who finished well at the SIAC Championships last season, led by senior Kennan Brown (Inglewood, Calif.) who finished 30th overall with a time of 31:42.35. Junior David Dixon (Fayetteville, Ga.) also returns for the Golden Tigers after finishing 37th overall at the championships with a time of 33:16.47.
Sophomore Victor Hinton (Woodbridge, Ga.) also returns for the Golden Tigers after finishing 42nd overall with a time of 33:40.49, while sophomore Josh Gaston (Lincoln, Ala.) finished 48th with a time of 33:41.09.
On the women’s side, Tuskegee returns a trio of seniors in Wamika Kemp (Los Angeles, Calif.), Chante Warner (Hueytown, Ala.) and Ariel Watson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) for the 2016 season.
Watson returns after finishing 45th overall at the conference championships last season in a time of 25:37.53.
The trio is joined three freshmen to round out the squad in Kayla Howard (Arlington, Texas), Maya Saunders (Glen Allen, Va.) and Matoaka Wilson (Lithonia, Ga.).
