Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's and women's cross country teams are ready to embark on the 2010 season after another very successful 2009 campaign. For the second year in a row the program sent runners to the NAIA National meet in Vancouver, WA. Belhaven hopes to keep that streak alive in 2010.

Hannah Reese and Thomas Kazery both qualified for the national meet due to their performance at the 2009 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference meet. On the women's side, Reese paced the Blazers finishing in 4th place out of 44 runners with a total time of 20:12.55. On the men's side, Kazery was the Belhaven's top runner with an overall time of 29:51.11 finishing 8th out of 53 contestants.

At the NAIA national meet, Kazery, a native of Jackson, MS, completed the 8k race with an overall time of 31:32, maintained a pace of 6:21 throughout the race, and placed 319th. Reese, who hails from Brandon, MS, completed the 5k race with an overall time of 21:32 and sustained a pace of 6:56 finishing 272nd.

The Belhaven men will have three experienced runners returning for the 2010 season. Peter Davis, Luke Lennon, and Andrew Sinclair will all be back to help anchor the men's team. Lennon, a junior from Freeport, FL, had a strong finish at the 2009 GCAC meet completing the course in 13th position and had the second highest team finish behind Kazery. Davis, a junior from Brush Creek, TN has been working hard in the offseason while Sinclair, a sophomore from Mendenhall, MS, has a year of valuable experience under his belt. The new faces are sophomore transfer Michael Hawkins and freshman Robert Ricks.

“We are excited about this season and are expecting great things from our men's team in 2010,” says Head Coach Christie Barber who begins her 11th season at Belhaven. “I'm excited about the talented runners we have returning this year and the recruits that we were able to bring in. Peter Davis has been running hard this summer and shows great promise for us and could be our top runner.”

The Women's team will have quite a few new faces for the 2010 season. The only returner is Reese who had a very impressive freshman season in 2009 earning the trip to the NAIA National meet. Newcomers to the team are Freshman Lauren Braska, Chellese Hall, and Sarah Storment. Sarah Rivera is a junior transfer and Seraphin Lin is another transfer and will be a sophomore. Storment, a native of French Camp, MS, finished third in the state of Mississippi (1A) in the two mile this past spring.

“This year's team will have some new faces, but I am excited about the talent we have assembled,” says Coach Barber. “Reese is a strong competitor and I am impressed by the new runners that we have this year including Storment who ran very well in the state meet this past spring. For both the men and the women, our goals are to compete for a Southern States Athletic Conference championship and to once again be represented at the NAIA National meet.”

The Belhaven men and women will open the season on August 28th when they compete at the Lee University Invitational in Cleveland, TN.