MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The Montevallo Cross Country teams are set to start their 2023 season with a trip to Oxford, Ala. to race in the Foothills Invitational hosted by Jacksonville State University on Friday, Sept. 1.
Friday's race is the first of three regular season competitions for the Falcons. Montevallo will host the annual Falcon Classic on Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. They will then finish the regular season at the UAH Invitational in Huntsville, Ala. on Oct. 7 at 8:00 a.m. hosted by The University of Alabama in Huntsville.
On Oct. 21, the Falcons will travel back to Huntsville, Ala. to compete in the 2023 Gulf South Conference Championship hosted by UAH. On Nov. 4, Montevallo will host the NCAA DII South Regional Championship.
"Both the men and women are going to be exciting to watch," said Head Coach
Tommy Barksdale. "We have a chance to do exciting things this season and I cannot wait to see what happens."
For the women, they have one newcomer and have nine runners that competed for the Falcons last season where they finished seventh at the 2022 Gulf South Conference Championship.
"Our biggest goal is to stay healthy," said senior
Ana Watters. "All of us are the same pace so pack running and being able to push our group to the front will be our main goal during races."
For the men, they return
Drew Roberts,
Owen Marquardt, and
Bill Archer who were three of the top-five finishers from the 2022 team that finished fourth in the GSC Championship. The men are also ranked seventh is the Preseason Regional Ranking poll.
"It's a very challenging conference every year," said senior
Drew Roberts. "All of our newcomers have been impressive and are great additions to the team."
"It might be one of the most talented classes that we've had in a while," said Barksdale. "We want to get back into that top three spot and compete at the high level that I know we are capable of."
The Falcons lost their top runner from a year ago,
Joe Leventry. Leventry holds nine out of the top-10 times for the 8K and holds the top time in the 10K. In 2022, Joe was a First Team All-GSC selection and named to the South Region All-Region First Team.
"Drew is our team captain this year. Once he gets his engine going, he is just as strong and just as good," said Coach Barksdale. "You can't replace a
Joe Leventry or a
Drew Roberts but you can bring in talent and trust the process as a coach."
Both the men and women's cross country teams will start their 2023 campaign on Friday, Sept. 1 in Oxford, Ala. The women's 4000 meter is scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m. and the men's 5000 meter is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.
Stay up to date with Montevallo Cross Country on social media at @xctf_montevallo and @xc_montevallo_tf and online at montevallofalcons.com.
