RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's and women's cross country teams will host the 2010 Big South Championships presented by UCS and Musco Lighting on Saturday, October 30 at the Blacksburg Middle School Course. The women's 5K race will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the men's 8K will follow at 11:30 a.m.

It marks the first time since 1998 that Radford has had the privilege of hosting the Championships.

“It is a great opportunity for Radford University to host the Big South Cross Country Championships. It allows for family, friends, past coaches and alumni to have the chance to attend and cheer on this year's men's and women's teams,” said head coach Sean Bossman.

Freshman Brian Gorwitz will lead the Highlander men onto the course. Gorwitz has recorded Radford's Top-3 times of the season, including a personal-best 26:27.70 at the Blue Ridge Open, and has finished first among Highlander competitors in every race this season.

Sophomore Sam Keltner and freshman Graham Schlickenmeyer have also been extremely consistent on the men's side. Keltner finished in 23rd at the Big South Preview in September and has a sub-28:00 season-best time, recorded at one of the nation's largest cross country events, the Paul Short Invitational.

Schlickenmeyer set his personal best in the second meet of the year, the JMU Invitational, with a time of 26:58.70. The mark is also the Highlanders' fourth-best time of the season.

On the women's side, Hannah Scheren and Jessica Arneson have been the leaders as of late. For the past three races, Radford has seen either Scheren or Arneson leading the way.

Scheren captured a 16th-place showing at the JMU Invitational and her strongest race of the year came in the last meet at the Blue Ridge Open, where she ran a 20:00.90.

Arneson ran her best time of the year (19:50.70) at the Blue Ridge Open. She was also the leader for the Highlanders at the Big South Preview, crossing the finish line in 18th-place with a time of 20:19.07.

“I expect both teams to have their best races of the year this weekend. They have trained all year for this race and their main focus since preseason has been to run their best on October 30th. If each individual is able to run his/her own race, performing to their strengths and not allowing the competition and conference pressure to dictate their race, then they will have positive outcomes. Both teams need to believe in one another and know that all of their hard work is about to pay off.”