Sept. 10, 2003

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -

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The Purdue cross country team hosts its second race of the 2003 season, the Great American Legends, on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Varsity Cross Country Course. The women's 5K race will begin at 10 a.m. while the gun will go off for the men's 8K at 10:45.

On the women's side, sophomore Lindsay Zinn will lead a group of 18 Boilermaker runners while junior David Rae will be among the eight men on the course for Purdue. Rae was named Big Ten Runner of the Week on Sept. 2 after winning the Purdue Open.

Other schools competing in the Great American Legends are DePaul, Eastern Kentucky, Indianapolis, Loyola, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State and the U.S. Naval Academy (men's race only).

The Great American Legends is in its second year, having been introduced to the collegiate cross country circuit in 2002. The race is the brainchild of Purdue head coach Mike Poehlein and was designed to honor the legends of cross country and distance running in American history.

In the inaugural race in 2002, Bob Schul was the honored legend. Schul, the current head cross country coach at Wright State, won the Gold Medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 5000m. He is the only American to win Olympic gold at that distance.

This year, the Great American Legends honors three greats in the world of distance running: Bob Schul, Mihaly Igloi and Don Kopriva.

As previously stated, Schul is the only American to claim an Olympic Gold Medal in the 5K, winning the medal in 1964.

The late Igloi, originally from Hungary, earned his stripes as one of the finest coaches in the history of distance running, having trained the likes of the vaunted Santa Monica Track Club, Jim Beatty (the first sub-4 minute indoor miler) and Schul. As a runner, Igloi had established a world record of 15:55.4 in the 4x1500m relay as a member of the Magyar Athletic Club. Igloi passed away in 1998 at the age of 89.

Kopriva is one of the more acclaimed writers in the distance-running community. Founder of the coaches cross country national poll, Kopriva served as the press steward for track and field at the 1984 Olympic Games. He has been involved as an official scorer and referee for many Big Ten Cross Country Championships in the past 25 years. Presently, Kopriva is the vice president and editor of the DuPage County Business Ledger.

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