Saturday, October 17, 2009

DELAND, Fla. - Mackenzie Howe got to see the course for the upcoming Atlantic Sun Conference Championships for a second time on Friday night, and made the most of it, winning the Hatter Invitational with a time of 17:42 in the 5k race.

The race, hosted by Stetson, was on the same layout that the Owls will face at Sperling Sports Complex in DeLand, Fla., on October 31, when they try to win their first A-Sun Championship since 2005. The entire team did a practice run there last week while they were in Orlando for the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic.

"I already was familiar with the course, having run it last week, but it was a little different since it was in competition," said Howe, who has now won six consecutive races to begin 2009. "I'm happy I got to race here before the Conference meet. It's a little tricky, and being out in front, there were some turns that I wasn't sure about, but now I don't have to worry about that because I got to experience it."