GREENWOOD, Ind. – Final preparations are being shored up around the league with the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships officially set for Saturday in Owensboro, Kentucky.
 
This year’s conference meet is being hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan College at picturesque Yellow Creek Park Course. The terrain features several premium vantage points for the fans on rolling hills.
 
The 6,000-meter distance women’s race will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. (CST) and the 8K men’s competition will follow with a scheduled start of 11:30 p.m. (CST). KWC head coach Tony Rowe and the sports information staff have compiled an in-depth video touring the course that can be viewed here.
 
The awards ceremony to recognize the winning teams, all-conference honorees, runners of the year and coaches of the year, will round out the day’s festivities.
 
Attendance for the 2014 G-MAC Cross Country Championships is free. Please note there will be a $5 charge for parking upon arrival for the general public.
 
Temperatures are projected to stay mild around the Owensboro area this weekend with a 40 percent chance of precipitation.
 
And while some runners have previously indicated they prefer the frigid weather conditions to test their mental fortitude during a race, it appears that cloudy skies with some intermittent rain could prevail for both races.
 
The competition will get a chance to view the course -- some for the first time -- on Friday before laying it all on the line with team and individual honors at stake.
 
Around the G-MAC, both the men’s and women’s sport have made splashes around various points in the country while fine tuning for the postseason versus NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA institutions.
 
Until someone is able to unseat Cedarville and its perfect record in the conference meet for both the women’s and men’s side, the Yellow Jackets remain champions. But the margin of error grows more slim with the overall talent around the league continuing to balance out.
 
Cedarville’s men with Benjamin Tuttle, Clay Watson and Matthew Pelletier, are a tough trio at the top of the rotation. Trevecca, led by sophomore Logan Rodgers, has carved out some of his best personal and G-MAC’s top times this year as he leads the Trojans.
 
The Yellow Jackets have experienced some injuries and it has not been disclosed whether Cedarville’s men will be at full strength this weekend.
 
The duel for top individual honors/G-MAC Runner of the Year will be a fun one to monitor with Ohio Valley’s Andrew Shaffer in contention and KWC’s Applegate also a threat while running on his home territory.
 
KWC coach Rowe and his Panthers have already hosted the Fast Cats Classic and two of his budding young runners, Seth Applegate and Rachel Keeley, were respective G-MAC Athletes of the Week this season.
 
Keeley is part of a strong contingent on the women’s side along with freshman Caroline Hampton of Trevecca, who has taken the league by storm as a rookie by logging the G-MAC’s three best 5k times this fall.
 
Two-time G-MAC Runner of the Year Alexandra Archambault is the presumed favorite based on her proven success at the highest stage. She has help in the lineup from freshman Carsyn Koch and sophomore Olivia Esbenshade.
 
Alderson Broaddus junior Jenny Brewer continues to turn heads with her efforts every week and figures to be in the mix. Davis & Elkins’ standout Ellen Cantaral was another student-athlete to earn weekly league honors this year and leads the Senators as a senior.

Brewer, a two-time G-MAC Athlete of the Week this year alone, is in possession of the league's best time for the 6K distance and has secured two of the top four conference times during the current season. 
 
All nine of the conference’s members are slated to compete on Saturday (Ursuline only on the women’s side).