STATESMEN HAS HIGH HOPES FOR CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS

Petersburg, VA, September 5, 2013- The Richard Bland cross country teams will have their first glimpse of competition as they open this weekend at the VSU Opener in Ettrick, VA. The teams will have the opportunity to compete mostly NCAA teams throughout the state, in preparation for their regional and national meets on the schedule.

Head Coach Matt High has the duty of starting a program from scratch, which is what he did when he took over at Virginia Intermont College. More then a decade ago, High was responsible for fielding the entire track & field and cross country programs at the Bristol, VA school. With some familiarity, the former Hopewell and Old Dominion distance runner has no concerns about the challenges that the program will be faced with in the building process.

The womens side of the program features Darshea'l Cook (Petersburg, VA/Highland Springs) and the sibling tandem of Justina Gilliam (Newport News, VA/Phoebus) and Jacqueline Gilliam (Newport News, VA/Phoebus). The mens team will highlight Maxwell Chambers (Centreville, VA/Westfield), Coy Robinson (New Kent, VA/New Kent) and Ricardo Cabrera (Richmond, VA/Mills E. Godwin). "All of the athlete's have been working really hard in practice, I am excited to see how they will fair this weekend", said High.

The women will start their 5k run first at 4:00 p.m. and the men will begin their 8k course immediately after at 4:30 p.m. The meet will be held on the campus of Virgiinia State University in Ettrick, VA.