Dalton State cross country teams will join more than 40 teams and an estimated 300-325 runners per gender that are expected Saturday morning as the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s home course, which starts and finishes on the Hardeeville school campus.
Larry Kimball, USCB cross country coach, organized the Sand Shark Invitational 2007. “We’ve created a monster,” Kimball told the school’s sports information director, Justin Jarrett. “We have some of the best teams in the Southeast, both NAIA and NCAA Division II, so it’s going to be a great meet.”
Jarrett said 212 men and 204 women completed last year’s meet. That made it the largest sporting event ever hosted by USCB.
“The huge number of entries will make the start of the race critical,” said Jarrett. “The top runners will try to put themselves in good position coming out of the box before the first right turn about 350 meters from the start.”
The 8K men’s race begins at 9:00 a.m. and the 5K women’s race will follow at 9:45 a.m. The spectator-friendly track is “fast and flat”. The women’s course makes two loops and the men’s course makes three loops meaning spectators can catch a glimpse of the runners several times without doing much running themselves.
“A lot of times in cross country they’ll go out and you won’t see them again for another three miles or so, but our course is designed so at least every mile or every 1,000 meters you’re going to be able to see them,” said Kimball.
Race officials are expecting “perfect running weather” with clear skies and temperatures in the low-50s.
Dalton State cross country teams are in their first year of eligibility for the post season. Saturday’s competition will be the last before the SSAC meet at Choctaw Trails near Clinton, MS on November 8th.