MORROW, Ga. – The Clayton State University cross country teams will open their 11th season this Saturday with much optimism.   

After finishing the past two seasons as the runner-up in the Peach Belt Conference, the men's team will be gunning for their first title with the departure of defending champ Kennesaw State and third place finisher North Florida from the league.   

Meantime, the women's team – third place finishers in the PBC for the past three seasons -- will also be in the hunt for a Peach Belt title while returning NCAA runner-up and defending PBC individual champ Allison Kreutzer who looks to build on her freshman success.   

The men's squad will compete Saturday at the Mercer Invitational on its Atlanta campus course while the Laker women compete in the University of Alabama-Huntsville Invitational at Sharon Johnston Park near Huntsville.  The men's 5K race at the Mercer-Atlanta campus will begin at 9 a.m. while the women's 5K race will begin at 9:45 a.m. CDT. 

"We're heading into this season as a marked bunch," said Laker head coach Mike Mead.  "Some of our Peach Belt brethren are saying we are the favorites to win the Peach Belt this season, but a lot can happen between now and the time we run the conference meet on October 22.  I look for us to be stronger on both teams this year, but we are thin in numbers." 

Both Clayton State teams will be focusing more on the NCAA South Region meet in November as the Top 3 men's teams and the Top 4 women's teams advance to the NCAA Division II national meet in California.  The Lakers finished sixth in the region meet last season while the lady Lakers finished seventh.  "With Kennesaw State and North Florida moving on to Division I, we have an opportunity if we stay healthy and work hard," said Mead. 
Men's Preview

The men's team returns three of its Top 5 from last season's PBC meet finish, led by senior Manuel Aguilar (Los Angeles, Calif.), an All-PBC finisher in 2004, senior Jose Garduno (Los Angeles, Calif.), who set the team's 10K mark of 33:00 last season, and sophomore Peter Gajda (Mermaid Mist, Australia).   

"We return a solid core in Manny, Jose and Peter," said Mead.  "This trio, along with our newcomers should make for a better squad than last year.  But that's provided we can stay healthy." 

The Lakers add a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen to make up its seven-man squad for 2005.  Leading the list of newcomers is junior Bobby Valadez (Cathedral City, Calif.), a transfer from East Los Angeles College who was a teammate of Aguilar and Garduno two seasons ago.  Valadez was one of the top junior college runners in California in 2002 on an East Los Angeles team that won California's state junior college cross country team title. 

Also joining the Lakers is sophomore Josh Myers (Cochran, Ga.) who is a transfer from Middle Georgia College.  Myers was a standout high school runner at Bleckley County High School and has run sub-33:50 for 10K this summer.  The two freshmen are Billy Joe Brown (Locust Grove, Ga.) and Jason Redd (Jonesboro, Ga.). Brown ran last season at Luella High School while Redd ran two years ago at Lovejoy High School. 

"Josh and Bobby are great additions to our program and we spent quite some time recruiting both of these young men," said Mead.  "We tried getting Josh out of high school, but we're glad we finally got him in.  Bobby has been idle for a year, but will be a big factor late in the season. Billy and Jason are young but both are going to show big improvement by the end of the season." 
Women's Preview 

The Laker women will be thin on numbers after losing five runners including four-time All-PBC runner Kim Daniel. But the squad returns the No. 2 finisher at the Division II national meet in sophomore Kreutzer (Lilburn, Ga.) who will lead the pack in 2005.  Kreutzer had a remarkable freshman season, finishing no worse than second in any cross country meet she ran.  She won the Georgia Collegiate Championships, Furman Invitational and Wingate Invitational, as well as the Peach Belt Championships while setting school records in both the 5K (17:24) and 6K (21:08). 

Also back is senior Heather Krehbiel (Peachtree City, Ga.), the former 5K (18:25) cross country record holder and two-time All-PBC runner.  Krehbiel had an injury-plagued junior year and did not compete the second half of the season.  With her return, Krehbiel and Kreutzer should provide the Lakers with a deadly one-two punch.  Also back from injuries is junior Tanika Smit (Benoni, South Africa) who ran 20:04 for 5K as a freshman. 

The Lakers add three newcomers to the squad, led by juniors Melissa Fernandez (Mesa, Ariz.) and Cassandra Bolivar (Glendale, Ariz.).  Both ran at Scottsdale Community College near Phoenix and last season posted sub-20 minute times for 5K.  Also new is freshman Becky Clark (Stockbridge, Ga.) who ran some cross country while at New Creation Center. 

"We do not have a lot of depth this season, but if we stay healthy we might just have our best team ever," said Mead.  "Allison and Heather will give us some good front running while Tanika, Melissa and Cassandra should be mid-pack runners.  Becky is going to need some time as she is overcoming injuries.  Again, if we stay healthy the best is yet to come."