CEDAR CITY, Utah - Sept. 18 - Southern Utah cross country will pit itself against some of the best competition in the nation this weekend when the Thunderbirds race in the Dr. Boyle Meet of Champions on the campus of Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.

“We are constantly looking to run with the best in the nation,” head coach Eric Houle said of the meet.  “If we want to be the best, we have to run with the best.  Win, lose or draw, we are going to be able to get a lot out of this race.

“This is just one step of many this season as we strive to compete in our conference, regionally and among the best in the nation.”

The Thunderbirds swept first-place finishes last week at the Idaho State Invitational, running against Idaho State and Utah Valley.  SUU sophomore Cameron Levins captured the individual title with freshmen Nate Jewkes and Nigel Sharp also recording top-five finishes.  The women captured the team title after finishing 6th through 12th.

This weekend will feature even more competition with Southern Utah facing 11 teams ranked in the top five of their respective regions.  Headlining the list on the men's side is Iona College (Northeast, No. 1), Michigan (Great Lakes, No. 1), Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic, No. 1), Providence (Northeast, No. 2) and Navy (Mid-Atlantic, No. 5).  The women's side includes Providence (Northeast, No. 1), Boston College (Northeast, No. 2), Cornell (Northeast, No. 5), Kentucky (Southeast, No. 4), Penn State (Mid-Atlantic, No. 4) and Stony Brook (Northeast, No. 3).

The race is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. for the women, with the men starting at 10:15 a.m.

For the complete release, with the latest stats, please click on the link at the top of the page.