Oct. 9, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -

Complete Results and Statistics

2008 Furman Invitational Program

The men's and women's cross country teams will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Greenville to take part in the Furman Invitational.

The Spartans are coming off strong finishes from both the women and men at the Mercer Invitational on Sept. 27. Led by Emily Tangwar, last year's A-Sun Freshman of the Year, the women raced to earn a fourth-place finish of 24 teams. Tangwar topped the team with a third-place overall finish in 18:35. Freshman Jemeli Sang and Caroline Chelulei were close behind, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.

James Jackson topped the men's efforts with a 30th-place finish in 26:56. Matt Henderson and Conrad Goeringer also led the Spartan charge, earning a team 12th-place finish among the 22 teams competing. The Mercer race marked the first time in two years that the top five runners of the men's Upstate squad all finished in under 30 minutes.

After crossing the half-way part of the season, steady improvement has been clearly visible for both teams. Head coach, Jimmy Stephens, and assistant coach, Ed Schlichter, are optimistic for the remainder of the season and the A-Sun Conference championships.

"Emily and the girls are looking very good right now in practice, and that should transfer to Furman this weekend," said Schlichter. "I'm interested to see how we match up against North Florida and ETSU since we have seen both of them earlier in the season. As for the men, I think the top-five time-gap will continue to drop as everyone continues to better performances."

At this point, the men's and women's teams have already raced against Conference opponents, Kennesaw State, ETSU, Jacksonville, North Florida, Mercer and Campbell in preparation for Conference Championships on Nov. 1. The Spartans are slated to compete against North Florida and ETSU among other local schools this weekend.

"We're getting close to crunch time and we're leaning to see where we are as a team," Stephens said. "I'm very proud of our athletes and the improvement we have seen under Coach Schlichter. The Furman Invitational should give us a good indication of where we are before Conference Championships."

The Spartans have generally been running on flat courses this season and will be tested on a tougher course as Furman is traditionally known to have rolling hills. The men's race is set to begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women shortly after at 10 a.m.