The men and women Lakers are

coming off their best seasons in 2002. Both teams finished third in the

Peach Belt Conference - their best combined finishes since 1997 while

the women placed 8th and the men 10th at the NCAA Division II South Region

Championships. Both squads ran team-bests at the conference meet and each

came away with two all-conference runners.

The Lakers, both ranked ninth

in the preseason South Region polls, will begin 2003 with key runners

recovering from minor injuries. "We're just a little banged up at

the moment," said Mead. "Our men's squad is in the worst shape

since our top two guys (Tony Juarez & Adil Berkhedle) have been out

for the past week. We're only carrying seven guys this season, so we're

particularly thin. The ladies are not quite so bad, but we've had some

folks nicked up during the past two weeks. Luckily we're much deeper and

are carrying nine women this fall."

The women's squad potentially

can improve on last season's successes, returning four of its Top Five

runners. Leading the pack will be last season's one-two punch of sophomore

Heather Krehbiel of Peachtree City, a Starr's Mill graduate, and junior

Kim Daniel of Macon, who both earned All-PBC honors.

Krehbiel established the team

freshman 5K mark of 19:00 as the squad's MVP last season and is expected

to begin the season at No. 1 once again. Daniel, who ran a collegiate-best

19:14 last fall, will be setting her sights on her third straight All-PBC

award as she battles back from injury that plagued her last fall.

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