XC Central: Live In Lou Cross Country Classic

Saturday, October 3

Louisville, KY

9:00 AM

University of Tennessee

Live in Lou Cross Country Classic

LEXINGTON, KY - 2019.11.01 -SEC Cross Country Championships

Photo by: Brian Woolston

October 02, 2020 | Track & Field

Live Results Watch (FloTrack - subscription required)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee men's and women's cross country programs will open the 2020 campaign Saturday morning at the 19th Annual Live In Lou Cross Country Classic. The meet is set for a 9 a.m. start at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

TEAMS COMPETING: The Tennessee men will kick off the season with the men's 8K gold seeded race at 9 a.m., competing against Louisville, Notre Dame, App State, Charlotte, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Marshall.

The Lady Vols will toe the starting line at 9:45 a.m. for the women's 5K gold seeded race, taking on West Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame, App State, Charlotte, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Marshall.

WHO'S RUNNING: Both Tennessee lineups will feature 12 runners on Saturday. See below for a breakdown of Tennessee's entries at the Live In Lou Classic:

Men's 8K

Women's 5K

* - collegiate debut

WHO'S BACK: On the men's side, Tennessee returns four of its top-five scorers from the 2019 SEC Championship and NCAA South Regional Championship meets.

Senior captain Alex Crigger highlights the returners as the top finisher for the Vols in four meets last season. He earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors with an 18th-place outing at the NCAA South Regional Championships, running a college-best 10K of 30:53.8.

Junior Karl Thiessen was named All-Region and SEC All-Freshman in 2018, and finished the 2020 indoor track season with a strong showing in the men's 5,000-meter. The Abingdon, Virginia, native placed seventh overall with a time of 14:24.18.

Senior Tennessee natives Conner Hawkins and Adam Johnston also return for the Big Orange after both scoring in the postseason in 2019. Hawkins was the Vols' second man across the finish line at the SEC cross country meet, and wrapped up his 2020 indoor track season with 4:03.31 1600-meter split in the SEC men's distance medley relay. Johnston was the No. 5 finisher for UT in the SEC and regional cross country meets last fall.

The Lady Vols also return four of their top-five from the 2019 season, headlined by the junior duo of Sydney Seymour and Katie Thronson.

Seymour was UT's top finisher at the SEC Championships and NCAA South Region Championships, placing 20th and 13th at those meets respectively. She opened her sophomore season with a win at the Tennessee Tri-Star Challenge, clocking in at 17:36.78 over the three-mile home course.

Thronson earned All-Region honors a year ago with a 17th-place finish at the regional meet, and most recently helped the Lady Vols win a bronze medal in the women's DMR at the 2020 SEC Indoor Championships. In 2019, Thronson set the Cavalier Classic meet record with a 5K time of 17:01.7 for her first collegiate individual cross country win.

Abigail Smith and Alyssa Wolf each scored in six meets for the Lady Vols last season, trading off as the fourth and fifth finishers for the Lady Vols - who as a team recorded their best SEC (4th) and regional (3rd) finishes since 2009.

WHO'S NEW: Tennessee welcomes a mix of transfers and true freshmen to the XC squad this fall. The Vols have added Foot Locker XC national qualifiers Canaan Anderson and Mike Griffin to their roster, in addition to transfer Thomas Gardiner from Xavier - who ran his career-best 8K of 24:48.3 at the Louisville Classic in 2018.

On the women's side, Olivia Janke is set for her first cross country season as a Lady Vol after joining the program in January from Towson. She was also a part of the bronze-medal DMR team at the 2020 SEC indoor meet, and last season earned All-Region honors with a 20th-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Championships.

Other key newcomers include 2019 Tennessee state champion Callie Tucker from Knoxville Catholic, 2019 Georgia 6A individual champion Kayla Gholar and nine-time Virginia all-state performer Jette Davidson.

UP NEXT: Following a two-week break from competition, the Big Orange will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to wrap up the regular season at the Blazer Classic. Hosted by UAB, the meet is scheduled for Saturday, October 17.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee cross country, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter.