DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Both Embry-Riddle cross country teams are preparing for the 2012 Asics Embry-Riddle Classic this Saturday, the lone home meet of the season for the Blue and Gold. The Eagles will welcome 15 teams for the collegiate/open races, while over 17 high schools will compete in the varsity and junior varsity races on the campus of Embry-Riddle.
The Eagle men are coming off back-to-back third-place finishes in the first two races of 2012, while the women have put forth a fourth and sixith-place effort in their first two races. Similar to last season,
Evans Kirwa has been the top Eagle finisher on the men's side, winning the USF Bulls Invitational and placing second at the Mountain Dew Invitational last weekend. Kirwa earned NAIA National Runner of the Week honors for his performance at the Mountain Dew Invitational, his fourth such honor as an Eagle.
Ellie Staker picked up where she left off in 2011, finishing first for the Eagle women in both races of 2012, including posting the second-fastest time in Embry-Riddle history at the Mountain Dew Invitational. Staker, a junior from Seattle, Wash. has been named The Sun Conference Runner of the Week for the first two weeks of the season. Staker finished second to Bethune-Cookman's Kadian Dunkley (who is returning in 2012) at the Asics Embry-Riddle Classic a year ago.
This year's Asics Embry-Riddle Classic will kick off with the men's collegiate/open 8K at 7:20 a.m., a race the Eagles have won for five straight seasons and Kirwa has claimed the last three individual meet crowns. The women's collegiate/open 5K will begin at 8:00 a.m. and Embry-Riddle will look to defend their meet title for the sixth consecutive year. The high school varsity girls race starts at 8:35 a.m. while the high school varsity boys race will begin at 9:10 a.m. The final two races of the day, the high school junior varsity girls and junior varsity boys start at 9:45 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. respectively.
Head Coach
Mike Rosolino has both his teams in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll as the men are ranked 15th and the women check in at No. 20. Both teams are defending Sun Conference champions and hope to make their eighth (men) and seventh (women) trips to the NAIA National Championships.
Following the Eagles' only home meet, Embry-Riddle will take part in their third and final NCAA I meet of the year on Oct. 5 in the Seminole Invitational hosted by Florida State.
2012 Asics Embry-Riddle Classic Meet Information
8K Course Map
5K Course Map
