MOBILE, Ala. – Christoph Graf of the University of South Alabama's men's cross country team will be competing Saturday at the NCAA Championships hosted by Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind.

"I thought about nationals but wouldn't dare to speak it," said Graf before departing Thursday for the event.  "I am more of a track guy then a cross country guy. I had no idea what the competition would be like, I knew the guys were strong."

The competition will be held at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center with the men's race scheduled to start at noon (CST).  The field on Saturday will include 31 seven-person teams and 37 other individuals who qualified along with Graf at nine regional races across the country last weekend.

"From what I know, nationals is going to be pretty flat and not as hilly as regionals was. The weather will most likely be colder and the course muddier, so it's challenging enough," Graf said of his expectations for the course in Indiana.

Graf won the Sun Belt Conference Championship race on Nov. 2 — earning the Most Outstanding Performer award at the meet — and helped USA to its eighth league title in the process.  It was his second individual victory of the season.

"Christoph is a talented guy, the biggest thing that separates him is he is so coachable. At the regional meet there were 30 guys who thought they had a chance to make nationals, but he listened and followed the race plan," Jag head cross country coach David Barnett stated.  "He is very patient in his race and doesn't get carried away."

Graf qualified for the NCAA Championships at the NCAA South Region meet hosted by Florida State in Tallahassee on Nov. 14 with his ninth-place finish; his efforts helped USA place 12th in the team competition.

"The program is strong and it's getting stronger.  It's a pity we couldn't race Patrick [Rohr] and Justin [Housley] was just not fully recovered at regionals after being sick at conference," observed Graf.  "We finished 12th as a team at regionals, but if we could have raced all our guys we could have done better; that's what we hope for next year." 

The men's 10k race will be broadcast live on NCAA.com. 

"I am really excited about it, it sets up the whole program for future success and sets our expectations a little bit higher," commented Barnett.  "I thought all along we had a couple guys who had a chance to make it, but to actually take that next step and get there — that's big for everybody.  I am recruiting really hard and it's easy when you have a conference championship team and everyone is doing well.

"We are hoping to get a team to nationals sooner rather than later."

After the competition has concluded, results from the race will be available at www.usajaguars.com.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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