Head coach of the St. John’s Cross Country and Track and Field teams, Jim Hurt, announced the schedule for the 2007-08 season, Thursday. “It’s a good schedule with great facilities and the opportunity to travel,” said Hurt. Cross Country “We feel that our team is back to being really strong, strong enough to compete in this national meet,” said Hurt. “It will help us prepare for the BIG EAST meet, which will be in Louisville, Ky., and will be a similar situation with a lot of athletes racing on a flat, fast course. We’ll start our season early in Indiana and hopefully it will be a successful preview of what the BIG EAST might be later in the season.” The team will travel back east to compete at the Fairfield Invitational on Sept. 29, before competing in their first championship meet of the season on Oct. 5 with the Metropolitan Championships hosted at home in Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. The following weekend, Oct. 14, the Red Storm will host its annual STJ Fall Festival, which St. John’s won last season. The 4K event will take place at Cunningham Park in Queens, N.Y. Late October into November starts championship month as the Red Storm will travel to Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 26 for the BIG EAST Championships. The Red Storm concludes the cross country season at the NCAA Northeast Regional (Nov. 10) and the ECAC Championships (Nov. 17), both held at Van Cortlandt Park. The Red Storm hopes to qualify athletes to NCAA Championships held at Indiana State on Nov. 19. Track and Field The Red Storm will travel to the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn., on Jan. 12 for a mid-winter break refresher before making its way down south to the Clemson Invitational. While most of the team will be competing at Clemson, the rest will take a trip westward to University Park, Pa., to compete at the Penn State Open. “These meets are important because it gives us a chance to travel and get on great facilities with a great training trip before the stress of school starts,” remarked Hurt. Early in the winter schedule, the Red Storm will face tough contenders at home in New York City with the Great Dane Invitational and the Metropolitan Championships at home at the Armory (Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, respectively). Also in the first weekend of February will be the historic Millrose Games, hosted at Madison Square Garden, where last season then-senior Tetee Kuyateh placed fifth in the hammer throw. Staying in New York City, the Red Storm will take part in the New Balance Games on Feb. 8-9, which is nationally televised each year. “The New Balance Games bring a national class of teams right to us in New York,” said Hurt. “It will give us a chance to test ourselves against some of the best athletes in the country.” The Red Storm also plans on splitting the squad to give the athletes a chance to compete at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn., the same weekend. The indoor season comes to a close with the BIG EAST, ECAC and NCAA Championships. St. John’s plays home school to the first of three championships when the BIG EAST comes to New York City. “It is great to have the BIG EAST Championship here in New York City,” said Hurt. “It will definitely be a great track and field weekend. We are hoping that people will put the date (Feb. 22-23) in their calendars and come out and watch.” The ECAC Championships will be held at Reggie Lewis Track Center in Boston, Mass., for the second year in a row on March 8-9. The Red Storm will use the ECACs and the NYU Last Chance Meet (Feb. 29), to qualify athletes for the NCAA Championships hosted by University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 14-15. The outdoor season will commence the first weekend in March with a trip to sunny California for the USC Relays. The Red Storm will follow the warm weather to Miami, Fla., for the Miami Gatorade Invitational; Arlington, Texas for the UT Arlington Relays and South Carolina for the Weems Baskin Relays. “We want to find some warmer weather in those March weekends so we can get an early start on the outdoor season with some great facilities and some quality competition,” said Hurt. Highlighting the outdoor season will also be the annual home spring series with Monday Meetings I and II (March 31 and Apr. 14, respectively), the North Carolina Fast Times meet (Apr. 12), the Penn Relays (Apr. 24-26) and the various championships in May and June including the USATF Junior Nationals (June 19-21), the Jamaican Championships (June 19-21) and the USA Olympic Trials (June 27-28). For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John’s athletics please visit www.RedStormSports.com or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM. - Red Storm -
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