Oct. 28, 2004

Memphis, Tenn.---The University of Memphis cross country teams will head to Palos Hills, Ill., this weekend for the 10th annual Conference USA Cross Country Championships. The meet, hosted by DePaul University, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 30, at Palos Hills Forest Preserve, just outside Chicago.

Leading the way for the Memphis women's squad will be sophomore, Daniele Riendeau, who has been the team's top finisher in each of three races this season. She and the remainder of the Lady Tiger runners have made great improvements throughout the 2004 season, and will look to break into the top 10 for the first time at the C-USA meet.

"We have had solid training the last few weeks, and now we are looking forward to racing and putting all of our hard work to use," said Coach Jonas Holdeman.

Riendeau, who is coming off a personal best 5K time of 18:23.65 three weekends ago, also has a legitimate shot at becoming the first Lady Tiger runner in school history to finish in the top 20 at the C-USA event.

Fellow runners Nora Nemere, Becca McMahon, Sarah Janecek and Mary Claire Dake have each finished in the top five for the U of M in each of the three previous races, and are expected to round out the scoring at the C-USA meet.

For the men, Mate Nemeth is expected to lead the way, and he also has an opportunity to crack into the top 20. Nemeth is coming off an impressive win at the SEMO Invitational on Oct. 23, and will look to build on that at the conference meet.

After Nemeth, Michael Mentz, who placed third at the SEMO meet, will likely fill the second team spot, with Abraham Shaposhnik, Jason Morgan and Gary Nemeth expected to round out the men's top five.

The women's 6K portion of the C-USA Championships is set begin at 10:30 a.m., with the men's 8K race to follow at 11:30 a.m.