DALTON, Ga. — Dalton State College has built one of the strongest NAIA cross country programs in the nation, and this weekend a hometown crowd can see the team’s talents.

The Roadrunners host the Dalton State Cross Country Classic on Saturday at Grove Level Trails in Varnell. The women’s race starts at 8 a.m. with the men following at 9:15. The women will run the 5K course while the men will run an 8K.

Dalton State coach Margie Bruner said her runners should have an advantage being the host school. 

“I think it’s much easier,” she said. “The kids are sleeping in their own beds and most of them have a lot of parental support and a lot of friends coming. I think it’s very helpful and should be an advantage for us.”

The Roadrunners will also host the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship meet on Nov. 4. Bruner said this is a rare opportunity for the school to host two meets in one season. 

“I would love to get some support from the community,” she said. “This is the first year ever we have two home meets in one season.”

Saturday’s meet will bring in SSAC schools Bethel, Blue Mountain, Loyola, Mobile and William Carey, as well as nonconference schools including Life University and Middle Georgia University. 

Bruner said Blue Mountain and William Carey are likely to be some of the top challengers to the Roadrunners. Both the Dalton State men’s and women’s teams won the SSAC last season and were picked to do the same again this year. 

The coach acknowledged it’s still early in the season and this weekend’s meet is another step in getting the team members where they want to be at the end of the year.

“We know we have a lot of work to do, we’re not going to put a lot of pressure on them this weekend, but we’re excited for this meet,” she said. “We’re where we are normally at in this point of the season. There’s a lot of work to do and they know it. We’re building right now.”