HANCEVILLE – Wallace State’s cross country teams are set to host Marion Military Institute on Saturday at noon for the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) championship meet.
It’s the first conference meet for Wallace State cross country in 10 years after the program was reinstated this fall.
“It’s a big deal for us to host the championship meet, and we are looking forward to it. Marion Military is a formidable opponent. We will have our hands full,” said Wallace State cross country coach Stan Narewski. “Our teams are ready and up for the challenge though. I’m optimistic about our chances.”
Wallace State’s teams have competed in meets this season at four-year colleges, including at Alabama, Jacksonville State, Montevallo and UAB.
Over the past couple of weeks, Narewski, assistant coach Tony Crider, team members and volunteers have spent numerous hours on campus laying out the course for Saturday’s meet. The men’s race is a 4.9 mile meet and the women’s is 3.1 miles.
“We believe it’s a good, fast course, and I hope we can find ways to host a couple of meets next season,” said Narewski, who led the men’s program to five conference titles and the women to a pair of titles in his previous stop at Wallace State.
The Wallace State men’s team is made up of Bravo, Christian Baker (J.B. Pennington), Andrew Blair (Cold Springs), Johnny Carter III (Demopolis), Tyler Crowden (Lawrence County), Jacob Guthrie (Fairview), Dustin Howell (Southeastern), Morgan Smith (Cold Springs) and Brennan Wink (Ohatchee).
The women’s team consists of Taylor Barkley (Lawrence County), Jamie Murphree (Fairview), Marlena Ramirez (Boaz), Sophie Ramos (Albertville) and Miriam Smith (Guntersville).
“Our team has been a pleasure to coach this season and their classmates have expressed interest in them and the program. It’s a good feeling. There’s been excitement across the board,” Narewski said.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit http://athletics.wallacestate.edu.
