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March 19, 2009

Milner Releases 2009 Pacer Cross Country Schedule

AIKEN, S.C. – Fourth-year head coach Larry Milner released the 2009 University of South Carolina Aiken women’s cross country schedule on Tuesday, July 14.

The 2009 USC Aiken cross country schedule features one home event and eight meets in total. The Pacers will run on their brand new top-of-the-line home course, Pacer Path, during their home event dubbed the Pacer Relays on Saturday, Oct. 10.

“The 2009 season is going to be an exciting and demanding season for our ladies,” noted Milner. “We will be running some new meets and hosting the Pacer Relays. We are really looking forward to running on Pacer Path, our brand new home course.”

“The conference meet distance is changing from 5k to 6k so we will be running several 6k meets in preparation for conference. The increased distance will be demanding, but I am confident that the Lady Pacers are up to the challenge.”

USC Aiken opens its 2009 campaign at the Erskine Invitational in Due West, S.C. The invitational will mark the first of seven straight weekends that the Pacers will be participating in a cross country meet.

The rigorous demands of the schedule could be a major cog in the 2009 season since according to Milner, “about half of the runners on the team will be new. It will be real interesting to see how the team develops as the season progresses. If we can keep everybody healthy we should do very well this year.”

One week after taking part in the Erskine Invitational the Lady Pacers will have the opportunity to see the conference course before the Peach Belt Conference Meet on Oct. 24. The Preconference Meet at UNC Pembroke will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The Pacers will then run in the Eagles Classic in Daytona, Fla. (Sept. 19) before ending the month of September by running in the Jaguar Invitational hosted by Augusta State on Saturday, Sept. 26.

The month of October opens with Milner’s squad running in an event where they had a great deal of success in the 2008 season as the Pacers will once again participate in the Blue Hose Invitational in Clinton, S.C.

In 2008, USC Aiken finished second as a team in the invitational with current junior Nicole Maitland coming in as the overall champion at the Blue Hose Invitational, setting a new school record in the process of winning the event.

For her efforts at the Blue Hose Invitational, Maitland was selected as the PBC Runner of the Week, becoming the first Pacer to accomplish the feat.

After hosting the inaugural Pacer Relays on Saturday, Oct. 10, USC Aiken will have a rare weekend off to get ready for the PBC Meet in Pembroke, N.C. on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Last season during the regular season, USC Aiken competed in nine meets against 98 teams, which included many Division I programs. USC Aiken finished second at the NCAA Division I Presbyterian College Blue Hose Invitational as a team. They concluded the year by making their second ever trip to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional where they finished 16th. The finish improved the Pacers’ standing by three places from the previous year.

The Pacer Women’s Cross Country program was particularly strong in the classroom in the 2008 season as the team was named to the NCAA Division II National Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team. Teams needed to have a 3.0 or better grade point average, and also compete at the NCAA Regional Tournament level to qualify for the award.

USC Aiken was one of 99 Division II women’s cross country programs on the prestigious list. The Pacers maintained a team average of 3.350 in 2008.