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Women's Cross Country Set to Open 2010 Campaign at the Belmont Invitational Alabama finished second in the event a season ago with three top-10 finishers
Andrea Torske is one of the veterans whose progress Coach Hasenbank is eager to assess.

Andrea Torske is one of the veterans whose progress Coach Hasenbank is eager to assess.

Sept. 2, 2010

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Fifth-year head coach Randy Hasenbank and the University of Alabama women’s cross country team will open up their 2010 season on Friday, Sept. 3 at the Belmont Invitational in Nashville, Tenn.

The women’s 4-kilometer race begins at 5:30 p.m. at Percy Warner Park with the Crimson Tide sending a full squad of 15 runners to the event.

“We’re looking forward to seeing our new student-athletes compete while also assessing where our veterans are at,” Hasenbank said. “This is a fairly low-key event, but I expect our team to compete well. However, we’re not going to over-analyze the team scoring results.”

The Tide returns the bulk of its scorers from last season led by All-South selection Kelsey Johnson and has added a talented and dynamic class of newcomers to give Hasenbank one of his deepest squads to date.

“The middle of our lineup with Katlyn Will, Elsbeth Denton and Andrea Torske has looked really good in practice and I’m excited to see how they contribute in a competitive environment,” Hasenbank said.

The Belmont Invitational has become an opening week tradition for the Tide with each of Hasenbank’s seasons and the majority of the team’s recent seasons opening on the Percy Warner Park course. Last year, UA finished second in the event with three runners placing in the top 10 paced by Johnson’s third-place time of 14:25.61.

Following Friday’s season opener, the team will have a week off from competition to train for its lone home event of the season, the Crimson Classic, on Sept. 18 at the Harry Pritchett Running Park.