Oct. 26, 2006

College Park, Md. - The men's and women's cross country teams look to continue to improve upon their success so far this season at the ACC Championships in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday.

The day gets started with the women's 6K race, which begins at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 10K, which starts at 11 a.m.

"Last year, we finished 10th on the men's side and 8th on the women's," Coach Michael Garrison said. "We have two drastically different teams than we had last year and we're obviously just hoping to improve upon last year's finishes."

The Maryland men rank second all-time in championships by school, with a total of 11. The tally ranks them just behind NC State, which has 13 and just ahead of North Carolina, with nine. Individually, the men have three champions in their history.

Garrison will look to Pete Hess to lead the Terps this weekend. The redshirt junior from Toms River, NJ has paced the Terps in all but one meet this season.

"We'd be really happy to see him get in that top-14 spot," Garrison said. "He's had a great season and we'd love for him to make one of the All-ACC teams."

Greg Kelsey and the Terps' other seven true freshman will also look to make an impact at the first ACC Championships of their careers. Kelsey was the second Terp to finish in three out of four of the team's races this season.

On the women's side, the Terps will look for a strong 1-2 punch in Meghan Braffet and Laurel Jefferson. Braffet, the ACC Performer of the Week for Sept. 25, has led the Terps at every meet this season. Jefferson has followed Braffet, placing second among Terrapin women in each race she has competed in this year.

"Braffet has been leading us all year. We're really just looking for her to go out and contend," Garrison said. "Laurel has also had a very solid season and we're looking for her to come on really big for us."

Live stats will not be available for the Championships, but log on to www.UMTerps.com for complete results on Saturday evening.