PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Hampton University men's and women's cross country teams will travel to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore this Saturday morning for the 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Cross Country Championships.

The women's 5K race will start at 9:45 a.m. at the UMES Driving Range/Cross Country Course, with the men's 8K race starting at 10:30 a.m. The event will be free and open to the public.

Norfolk State will be looking for its second straight men's MEAC crown and its ninth overall, while Maryland-Eastern Shore will vie for its third straight – and fourth overall – conference title. The Lady Pirates finished third in last year's MEAC Championships, while the Pirates came in seventh.

Jasmin Branch (Hampton, Va.) finished 12th in the MEAC Championships last year with a time of 19:00.72, while Jahlisa Smith (Plainfield, N.J.) ran a 19:02.80 to come in 13th. Both runners earned All-MEAC honors. Bryan Brown (Upper Marlboro, Md.) is the top returning Pirate from last year's MEAC Championships, where he ran a 29:50.37 to finish 41st.

The top 15 finishers in each race on Saturday will be named to the All-MEAC Team.

Branch, who has paced the Lady Pirates in all four of their meets this season, has the sixth-best time in the MEAC this season, running a 19:17.00 Oct. 3 in the HBCU Cross Country Challenge to finish 3rd. Kenya Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) finished sixth in that meet with a time of 19:44.00, which is the 13th-best time in the MEAC this season.

Smith's 19:58.45 at the UMES Cappy Anderson Invitational on Sept. 19 is the 15th-best time in the conference.

David Kimani (Kenya) ran a season-best 26:37.00 at the HBCU Cross Country Challenge, which is the 8th-best time in the MEAC. Freshman Berian White (Newark, Del.) has the conference's 9th-best time, thanks to the 26:38.00 he ran at the HBCU Cross Country Challenge.

Kimani has paced the Pirates in four of their five meets this season; White paced Hampton in its first meet of the year, running a 28:27.45 in the UMES Lid-Lifter Invitational on Sept. 5 to finish 30th.

Norfolk State's Philemon Kimutai has the MEAC's best time of the season, thanks to the 24:46.00 he ran in the HBCU Cross Country Challenge. Aurora Scott of Norfolk State holds the women's best time of the year, running an 18:27.00 at the HBCU Cross Country Challenge.

For more information on the 2009 MEAC Cross Country Championships, visit the official MEAC website at www.MEACsports.com. For more information on Hampton University cross country, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.