Oct. 28, 2011

CHICAGO - The UIC cross country team is set to compete at the Horizon League Championship Saturday. The women's six- kilometer race begins at 11:00 a.m. (CT) and the men's eight-kilometer race begins at Noon at Squire Valleevue Farm in Cleveland, Ohio.

The men's team looks to improve from last year's third-place finish. The Flames are led by senior Brian Denk (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South), who finished third overall, and first of the UIC runners, at last year's championship in 24:27.64.

"Our guys have raced against the best in the conference and done well but at the Horizon League Championship," says head coach Jim Knoedel. "It's a fresh start and we all have to prove whether the early races were fact or fiction."

The team will also rely on strong performances from seniors Tyler Hinckley (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant) and Sam Kehoe (LaGrange Park, Ill./Lyons Township), sophomore Arash Darbandi (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and sophomore Angelos Karkalis (Mount Prospect, Ill./Rolling Meadows). At last year's championship Kehoe finished in 11th place, Hinckley finished 14th, Darbandi finished in 30th place and Karkalis finished 33rd.

On the women's side, the team hopes to improve from last year's seventh place finish. Junior Jaime Johnson (River Grove, Ill./East Leyden) is in a position to pace the Flames against the competition. Johnson led the Flames and finished 12th in 18:47.20 at last year's championship.

"The women have put in the work and shown they belong in the top half of the Horizon League teams," says Knoedel. "Now it is time to demonstrate all the miles and time we put in will pay off."

The Flames look for high-caliber performances from freshmen Tess Ehrhardt (Geneva, Ill./Geneva), Rebecca Zaiter (Elmhurst, Ill./York) and Vanessa Connelly (Countryside, Ill./Deer-Creek Mackinac). Ehrhardt, Zaiter and Connelly have been top performers for UIC this year and aim to help the Flames move up at the Horizon League Championship.

Be sure to check back to UICFlames.com for complete results and a recap of the UIC cross country team's results at the Horizon League Championship.