GEORGETOWN, Texas- Saturday, September 3 marks the opening of the cross country season and Head Coach Francie Larrieu Smith has a lot to be excited about for this year's team.

On the men's side she returns one senior, one junior and three sophomores from a strong team last year that finished 6^th at the SCAC Championships. Included in that group are senior Stephen Fuentes and junior Sam Martinez. Fuentes finished in a personal best time of 27:25.6 at the conference championship while Martinez also posted a personal best time at the event, running the course in 26:00.9. His ninth place finish earned him an All-Conference selection and is the second-fastest time ever posted by a SU runner.

"We graduated a lot of talent last year," states Coach Larrieu Smith, "but Sam and Stephen both had outstanding summers of training. They both love running and are lifelong runners and competitors."

Adding to the talented upperclassmen are two newcomers who have jumped on the scene and wasted no time making their mark. First-year Paden Williams, a two-sport athlete, and first-year Andres Soto will round out the top four with their talent. Fellow first-years John Cooper and Caleb Ruckel will be vying for the fifth point scoring spot on the roster.  

"Paden and Andrew came in very fit as well," shares Larrieu Smith.  "Cooper is from one of the top high school programs in the nation and has learned a lot coming from that kind of background. I have been pleasantly surprised with Caleb. He was training with a very popular running group in Austin, and despite not competing a lot in high school, is very fit and has the right mentality to become a strong competitor."

The women's team boasts a large roster of 20 that will provide a strong supporting cast to the top runners. Southwestern's top runners from last season, Lilly Duarte and Christina Hadly return to the course once again for the Pirates. Duarte is fourth all-time in the 5K and 7^th all-time in the 6K while Hadly is 9^th all-time at the 5K distance and 7^th all-time at the 6K.

Hadly posted her personal best at the South/Southeast Regional and was the highest Pirate finisher at the event. Duarte took the top spot at the SCAC Championships for the Pirates, coming in 19^th overall.

Joining the ranks this season is Nancy Juarez. Juarez is a member of the women's basketball team at SU and will be a difference maker for the Pirates on the cross country course this year.

"One of the things we are working on this year on the women's side is team running," states Larrieu Smith. "We want to get our top five in a pack, running as close together for as long as they can throughout the race. It is really, really hard to do but we are slowly trying to work that out as best we can."

Larrieu Smith continues, "this type of running allows us to limit the amount of points we score between our runners, which is where we have been hurt in the past. We want our 4^th and 5^th runners to stay up with our top three. If we can do that our women's team will be significantly improved this year."

The season opener for Southwestern will be at the Sewanee Invitational on September 3. It not only provides the Pirates with a preview of the conference championship course, but also serves as a great evaluation course for Larrieu Smith. "While it is quite unusual to go on a road trip like this early on, I felt very strongly about taking the team there in advance. It is a challenging course but will give them a visual for the entire season leading up to the championship."

"With us being in Texas and having to deal with the heat that we have been experiencing, even though this is the first meet and they are nowhere near their peak cycle, they can open up where the weather is cooler and they will have the opportunity to feel good running in their first race. I don't know where I expect finish but this will be a good evaluation period while allowing the team to see the course. It is a good opportunity for me to get a realistic idea of where they are by running in the cooler temperatures. From there we can go and work on our goals and improve on our performance by the time conference hits."

Another notable meet for SU is the annual Texas DIII Cross Country Championships in Abilene, Texas on September 24^th. Various conference schools will be in attendance as well as the other DIII schools in Texas, all who compete in the same region as Southwestern. "It is a fun meet and we usually perform pretty well there."

"The beginning of season is always exciting and having so many newcomers that can contribute is huge. I am looking forward to seeing the runner's improvement throughout the season. We have incorporated some new things into their training this year that I think will make a big difference as the season unfolds."