LITTLE ROCK - The UALR men's and women's cross country teams return to action following a three-week break with the 11^th annual Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Sept. 29. The event will be run at E.P. Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., with the men's 8K race beginning at 8:30 a.m. (CST) and the women's 5K starting at 9:15 a.m.

This year's classic will feature an extremely competitive field for both the men and women. On the men's side, the field includes four ranked teams and three in the top ten, including No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 6 Texas and No. 8 Iona. Seven nationally-ranked women's teams are scheduled to compete, including No. 1 Washington, No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 10 Arkansas.

The Trojans will enter the event on three weeks of rest following the season-opening UALR Invitational on Friday, Sept. 7. Markus Pearson led the UALR men with a sixth-place finish (15:46.42) in the men's 5K race. Shaun Koehn (15:47.84) and Felix Maritim (15:51.43) placed seventh and ninth, respectively, to give the UALR men three top-ten finishers. It was the second-straight top-ten finish at the UALR-hosted event for both Pearson and Maritim.

Gabriel Ghioca (16:31.24) placed 22^nd as the first Trojan to cross the line outside of the top ten. Rodney Sasse placed 31^st in a time of 16:45. Chris Dunbar (17:07.30) and Ben Alexander (18:03.17) rounded out UALR's finishers on the men's side.

Mackenzie Bloom paced the UALR women with a 12^th-place finish in a time of 19:42.81 in the women's 5K. Tori Copeland placed 20^th (20:22.16) to finish next in line for the Trojans. Breanne Mitchell (29^th, 20:57.90) and Therese Moberg (53^rd, 24:29.49) rounded out the UALR women finishers.

The Trojans last ran in the Greater Louisville Classic back in 2009, when the men placed 13^th of 38 teams and the women placed 29^th of 35. Pearson placed 208^th in 26:46.65 in the men's 8K at the 2009 Classic. Bloom placed 138^th in 19:31.14 in the women's 5K in 2009.

E.P. Sawyer State Park has been the site of five NAIA National Cross Country Championships, the 2007 and 2011 Big East Conference Championships, the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships.