One of the premier cross country races of the season will take place this Saturday, Sept. 11, as 50 high schools teams from throughout the Commonwealth and several other states will take over Green Hill Park for the running of the 7th Annual "Knights Crossing" cross-country Invitational.

"This has been the largest cross-country invitational in southwest Virginia for the past four years," said Tommy Maguire, head cross-country coach for Cave Spring High School.

According to Maguire, just about every local school will be represented. In addition, "We have three teams coming from Tennessee (Morristown-West, University School of Tennessee High, & Science Hill), one from Kentucky (Paul Dunbar), one from West Virginia (George Washington), and one from Georgia (Collins Hill). We also have several teams making the trip from Richmond and Northern Virginia areas."

This year’s race will include 20 girls with personal bests faster than 20 minutes for the 5k and eight of those girls have broken 19 minutes. There is also 22 boys with personal bests faster than 17 minutes with one under 16 minutes.

Some of the top programs that will be attending this year’s invitational include Blacksburg, whose girl's team in 2009 qualified for the Nike Team Nationals and finished 6th. They finished second at the state AA meet last fall. The team has won a total of 11 state titles, the last three were in 06, 07, and 08, and this year’s squad is ranked 3rd in the AA state pre-season. The Blacksburg boys team last year won the state AA title. The team has won a total of six state titles and this year’s squad is ranked 1st in the state out of all classifications, as well as being ranked 25th in the nation pre-season. Hidden Valley's girls team, who won the state AA title last year, qualified for the Nike Team Nationals and finished 12, as well as being ranked 21st in the nation pre-season; Collins Hill High School (Georgia), whose girls team finished second in the AAAAA state meet last year and its boy's team, who finished third in the same meet; Morristown-West High School (Tennessee), whose boys team are the 2009 State AAA Tennessee Champions; and Colonial Forge High School (Virginia), whose boys squad is ranked fourth in Group AAA.

"We are excited about this year's event," said Maguire. "Some of the premier programs in the region, as well as other states will be showcased here. We hope the public will come out and show their support for all the runners."

Listed Below Is The Schedule For Saturday, Sept. 11 (Admission is free)

7:00 am Course Opens - Packet Pick-up/Open Race registration
7:30 am Open Race Registration closed
8:00 am Open 5K Race for men and women
9:00 am Coaches Meeting
9:00 am Elementary School Championship 3K Race (Boys/Girls) Medals to Top 10
9:15 am Open Race Awards
9:30 am Middle School Championship 3K Race (Boys/Girls) Medals to Top 10
10:00 am Girls Red Race 5K—Top 7 runners - Medals to top 15
10:45 am Boys Red Race 5K—Top 7 runners - Medals to top 15
The "Red" race is for larger schools and out of state teams
11:15 am Girls Black Race 5K—Top 7 runners - Medals to top 15
12:00 pm Boys Black Race 5K—Top 7 runners - Medals to top 15
The "Black" race is for smaller schools and all private schools
12:30 pm Girls White Race 5k--Unlimited
1:15 pm Boys White Race 5k--Unlimited
The "White" race is for all runners who are not in the top seven

Teams Attending The 7th Annual "Knights Crossing" Include:

Alleghany
Auburn
Basset
Blacksburg
Brookville
Carlisle School
Cave Spring
Chancellor
Chatham
Christian Heritage Academy
Christiansburg
Collins Hill (Georgia)
Colonial Forge
Deep Run
E.C. Glass
Faith Christian
Fort Defiance
Franklin County
George Washington (West Virginia)
Giles
Glenvar
Gretna
Hanover
Heritage (Leesville)
Heritage (Lynchburg)
Hidden Valley
James River (Botetourt)
Liberty (Bedford)
Liberty Christian Academy
Lord Botetourt
Martinsville
Morristown West (Tennessee)
North Cross
Northside
Patrick County
Patrick Henry (Roanoke)
Paul Dunbar (Kentucky)
Peaks View
Pulaski County
R.E. Lee (Staunton)
Roanoke Catholic
Rockbridge
Rustburg
Salem
Science Hill (Tennessee)
Staunton River
St. John Neuman Academy
Tennessee High (Tennessee)
Turner Ashby
William Byrd
William Fleming