LITTLE ROCK - The UALR men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to compete in the 2012 Sun Belt Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27. The annual event will be held at Kereiakes Park for the third-consecutive year.

The 2012 SBC Championships will commence with the women's 5K race at 10 a.m. (CT) proceeded by the men's 8K race, which is scheduled for an 11 a.m. (CT) start time.  Following the men's event, an awards ceremony will be held at approximately 11:45 a.m. (CT).

The UALR men's team sits at No. 14 in the most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) South Central region poll.

In its last event, the UALR men's team placed 15^th of 34 teams in the 10K on Saturday at the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 13. Felix Maritim led the squad by placing 55^th of 313 runners in a time of 32:15.4. Shaun Koehn finished 76^th (32:36.4) and John Vodacek finished 92^nd (32:50.0) to round out the Trojans' top-three finishers.

The UALR women placed 29^th of 43 teams at the Chile Pepper Festival and were led by Marissa DeLaPaz, who finished 102^nd (23:06.9) in the women's 6K. Teammate Mackenzie Bloom finished 105^th in 23:09.6 as the second UALR finisher. Both DeLaPaz's and Bloom's finishing times were good enough to crack the list of UALR's all-time top-20 6K times.

A year ago at the 2011 Sun Belt Championships, the UALR men placed five runners in the top 15 and finished second overall. Maritim (7^th, 25:19.0) and Dustin Mettler (8^th, 25:24.7) led the Trojans in the men's 8K and received All-Sun Belt honors. Markus Pearson, the Trojans' top finisher at the 2012 UALR Invitational, placed 12^th in 25:58.9.

The UALR women's team placed fourth overall as Erika LaCroix (7^th, 18:19.2) and Sanna Mustonen (10^th, 18:27.8) earned All-Sun Belt honors. Bloom finished 23^rd in a time of 19:23.0 and DeLaPaz placed 33^rd in 19:38.1.