Via Troy Athletics

The Troy University cross country team is set to open up the 2013 season with its first home meet of the year, the Trojan Invitational, on Friday evening at the football practice fields. The women’s 3k event will begin at 6:15 p.m., while the men’s 5k event will get underway at 6:45 p.m.

“The team has been looking really strong in its workouts and we’re all excited to compare ourselves to some quality competition,” said distance coach Jeff Jenkins. “We are incredibly freshmen heavy, but they’ve taken the workload with open arms.

“On the women’s side, Julia will continue to be one of our top women, but there will be some freshmen in the mix for the top-5. Keep an eye out for Kendall Harris after an incredible summer of training, as well as our captain, Haley Davies. On the men’s side, we will be without a few of our top guys, but we should still have a strong showing. Enock Kirui is in his last season of cross country eligibility and has been on fire lately. Captain Sam Ammons has been the glue for the team and has been instrumental in pulling the freshmen along into the program. He has been looking incredibly fit during preseason and I’m expecting big things from him.”

Eight women’s squads will be in attendance on Friday, including Sun Belt members Georgia State and South Alabama. On the men’s side, five teams will be competing, including Auburn and South Alabama.

“We have been training pretty heavily this week despite racing on Friday night, but it is all a part of the process,” Jenkins continued. “We are about nine weeks from the Sun Belt Championships and we’re just now finishing our aerobic development training phase. Our hope is to mix it up with some of the other Division I schools and get our name on the regional ranking list. We will see some good Sun Belt and South Region competition and we should be able to go toe-to-toe with any of them. Auburn’s men, Georgia State’s women and UAB’s women were all listed in the preseason South Regional ranking list, so we should have a good showing. With the new Trojan Affinity program alongside the football pep rally and concerts near the finish line, I hope to see a lot of Troy students in attendance.”

Troy hosts three home meets this season, with the Coach “O” Invitational coming up on October 12. The final home meet will be the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships, taking place on November 2.

The Trojan Invitational is part of Troy’s opening weekend of home athletics. Troy soccer hosts the Trojan Classic on Friday, beginning at 12 p.m., while the Troy football team kicks off the 2013 season against in-state rival UAB at 6 p.m., from Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Fans can keep up with all the action by following Troy track and field/cross country on Twitter at @TroyTrojanXC_TF .

For more information on all of Troy Athletics, fans can find the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyAthletics, or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.