The Greater Louisville Classic is “one of the most highly attended college and high school cross country events in the United States,” according to its website.
On Saturday,, the women’s cross country team will be traveling to Kentucky to run in the highly anticipated meet, racing in its second 5k of the season. They will be racing in the gold division for the women at 10:15 a.m.
The course has been home to several conference and regional events, and even 11 NCAA championship meets, making it a great way for teams to prepare for the approaching championship season.
Over 90 schools ranging from NCAA Division I to the community college level are registered to compete in the event. Last year the Chargers took second in the Division II section, falling only to Grand Valley.
Not only is this course popular and well-attended, the landscape lends itself to great success for the runners. Sophomore Maryssa Depies said she is looking forward to going back to Louisville this year.
“Actually I just really like the course,” Depies said. “It makes a lot of difference when the ground is hard and the dirt is really packed down, so you have the potential to run really fast, so I would like to do that. It would be fun to go out and run a cross country [personal record].”
Sophomore Christina Sawyer ran the 5k race in 18 minutes, 11.7 seconds on this course in 2017, and is going to do her best to achieve another personal record, she said. With a season opener of 18:28.0 back in August, her potential to do so is great.
“I’m just excited because it’s our first really big travel meet and it’s a good course with a lot of good competition,” she said. “I think the other Division II teams in our race are who we’re going after. Grand Valley will probably be there, so we just want to do well against the other teams in our division.”
After dealing with a lower leg injury for week nows, freshman Sophia Maeda said she is hoping to get back on the course. Although she may just do a workout, she is still looking forward to traveling to Louisville with the team.
“Traveling with the team will be a new experience, so I’m really excited,” she said. “They told me they just travel and go to bed, but I’m still excited.”
