HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's and women's cross country teams close out their 2017 regular season schedule Friday at the Alabama Crimson Classic at the Harry Pritchett Running Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

    The day begins with the men's 8,000 meters at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000 meters at 9:45 a.m. Live results, courtesy Alabama, will be accessible on the Southeastern cross country page at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern will be going against one of its largest fields of the season with 32 teams and 320 runners competing on the men's side and 35 teams and 341 runners on the women's.

    Joining the Lions in the men's field are host Alabama, Southland Conference rival Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Alabama State, Auburn, Belmont, Chattanooga, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Lemoyne-Owen, Lipscomb, the Marion Military Institute, Memphis, Mercer, Meridian Junior College, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, North Florida, Oklahoma, Samford, South Alabama, Stephen F. Austin, UT Martin, Texas A&M, Troy, UT Arlington, UT Rio Grande Valley, Vanderbilt and Wallace State.

    All but Louisiana Tech, plus Georgia Southern, South Carolina, Southern Miss and UAB, join the Lady Lions in the women's field.

    Schedule to compete for the Southeastern men are junior Brett Olivier, sophomores Grant O'Callaghan and Bryant White and freshmen Anthony Cordero, Adam Cortez and Jonathan Respress. The Lady Lions will send out five freshmen in Breanne Bernard, Sophie Daigle, Lindsey Hutcheson, Lydia Pevey and Tara Stuntz.

    Southeastern last competed at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Sept. 30. Daigle ran a season-best 5K time of 18:55.4 to place 12^th, her highest finish as a Lady Lion. Bernard and Pevey also had personal bests as the Lady Lions took fourth as a team. The men were sixth, led by White's 33^rd-place finish.
 
MEET NOTES
   Daigle received honorable mention Women's Athlete of the Week honors on Oct. 3 for her performance at the Cowboy Stampede. 
 
   The Middle Tennessee men are ranked 22^nd in the latest USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches poll while the Mississippi State women are 29^th. Twelve of the top 15 women's teams in the South Region are in the field as well as nine of the top 15 men's squads.
 
QUOTES
Southeastern head coach Rocky Capello:
On the meet…
   "It's going to be a pretty good field at Alabama and a great course. It's probably the most challenging course we will have this year and certainly the most competition we will face all year on both sides. We'll have a couple of in-state teams as well as Stephen F. Austin. The kids are excited and I'm excited about it."
 
On what he wants to get out of the men's race…
   "I know we have a strong top four. I like the way Adam, Tony, Grant and Brett have been racing so I feel real confident about how strong our top four are. I'm looking for Jonathan and Bryant to really take that next step and have a strong race. We need them to get closer to our front pack and if they can get to within 30 seconds of our three and four, then I feel really, really good going into the conference meet. Racing against this type of competition will sort of mimic the way the race will be at conference so it will give me an idea of where we stand."
 
On his expectations for the Lady Lions…
   "The practices have been really good. Sophie, Tara, Breanna, their last few practices have been better than they've done all year. I think they are ready to take that next step. Lindsey has really come on stronger in practice and I expect her and Lydia to both have the best meets of their careers. That's what I want to see from them, too. I want to see our four and five girls take that next step and try to get as close as possible to our other three."   
 
UP NEXT
    Southeastern heads to Abilene, Texas on Friday, Oct. 27 for the 2017 Southland Conference Championships at the Abilene Christian University Cross Country Course.