Oct. 25, 2005

Riverside, Calif. - The key cross country meet of the year occurs Saturday at UC Riverside in the form of the 2005 Big West Conference Cross Country Championships. The competition begins 8 a.m. with the men's race followed by the women at 9 a.m.

The women's 6K race appears to be wide open with UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State the apparent frontrunners along with a surprisingly good Cal State Fullerton contingent.

"This team has been a pleasant surprise to me," said Titans' Head Coach John Elders. "They have exceeded expectations and I feel like we are one of the contenders. We haven't finished as high as third since 1992 and getting back there has been our goal."

Finishing ahead of UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine in any place would be an inaugural accomplishment. The Titans never have won a conference title but finished third four years in a row (1989-92).

"Cal Poly SLO and UC Santa Barbara are clearly the teams to beat on the men's side," said Elders. "After that there is a big drop off. We are looking for quality from our guys, since we don't have quantity. We have no margin of error with only five runners. Despite that, I think we have the ability to surprise a few teams.

"The team has gotten better every week. If each person runs a good race, we shold have a good team result."