Sept. 25, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University cross country team will participate in the Ole Miss Invitational Saturday in Oxford, Miss. The event will be held on the Ole Miss Golf Course and competition kicks off at 9 a.m. with the men's 8K race. The women's 6K race will follow at 10 a.m.

This weekend's race will be the first for the Bulldogs this season that has not been held at night. The previous two races, the Memphis Twilight and the Crimson Classic have been held after 5 p.m.

"We hope to have a good showing this weekend at Ole Miss," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "The competition will not be as difficult as last week but SEC schools are always quality opponents."

Samford will join Ole Miss, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Christian Brothers South Carolina and West Alabama in the meet.

In last week's meet, Samford faced some of the toughest competition it will face this season, besides conference opponents. While the women meet a myriad of intense competition, the men faced two top 20 teams in Alabama and Arkansas.

Tiffin says that it's always good to get a mix of opponents. It is important to have teams that you know you match up well with and team that you know will push you to do better each week.

"We always like to win and keep the emotions high but there are also times to challenge ourselves and see how we match up," Tiffin said. "I think this weekend is a good mix of both for us. We will be resting a couple of our key athletes this weekend so our young people will definitely be counted on. It should be good to see how we respond. I have every bit of confidence in them and know they are looking forward to the challenge."

The Samford women are led by sophomore Andrea Seccafien who has finished in the top spot for the Bulldogs in the last two weeks. On opening weekend, Seccafien took fourth place at the Memphis Twilight and followed that up with a 22nd place finish against tough competition at the Crimson Classic last weekend.

Blaise Carie has steadily led the men so far this season. He opened the season with a 16th place finish at the Memphis Twilight followed by a 66th place finish in the Crimson Classic.

"I think the goal this weekend is to get better," Tiffin said. "We will be trying to see where we are and how everyone responds to the competition. I feel that if we run to our capabilities, we can all be happy about the effort and the weekend finishes."

Competition begins at 9 a.m. with the men's 8K run on Saturday. A full recap and result will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the meet.