Oct. 30, 2003

Duquesne University's men's and women's cross-country teams are headed to Philadelphia to compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships at the Belmont Plateau on Saturday. These are the first of 21 conference titles for the 2003-04 season.

The women's squad is led by senior Carrie Hucko (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) who finished in third place at last year's championship. The Dukes won their last event, the Duquesne Invitational, behind Hucko (#2), sophomore Liz Graham (#3), junior Amy Tucker (#5) and sophomore Tara Gerlach (#8). Last season, the Dukes finished in fifth place in the conference title competition.

The men's team is led by junior Ryan Bender (Indiana, Pa. / Indiana), who finished first in the Duquesne Invitational and was tenth in the 2002 Atlantic 10 Championship. Also helping the Dukes to second place in the October 17th meet at Schenley Park were sophomore Kevin Borrelli (#4) and freshman Chris Horvat (#6). The men finished in fourth place in the league's 2002 event.

Both teams have been in the Mid-Atlantic Region's top 15 throughout this season. La Salle has been the defending A-10 champion in both the men's and women's events for the last two seasons.