Cross Country Back In Action Saturday

Men's Team

PROVO -- After more than two weeks of preparation, the BYU men’s cross country team is back in action at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 29th in Terre Haute, Ind.

“After a couple of weeks off it allows you to get some good workouts in and prepare and get healthy,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We are at the point now where we are feeling pretty good.”

It is the biggest race of the year to date for the Cougars, facing competition from some of the best programs in the country. The No. 19 men’s team will match up against four top-10 teams, including No. 1 ranked Stanford, No. 4 Colorado, No. 5 Northern Arizona and No. 8 Portland.

Junior Miles Batty has been a strong leader for BYU, with three races under his belt and two first-place finishes. Batty has a supporting cast of fellow juniors Rex Shields and Alden Bahr, as well as several other talented harriers.

BYU has finished in the top five at the Pre-Nationals meet seven times since 2000, when the Cougars took home the win.

Race time for the men is set to begin at 10:50 a.m. MT. Results can be found after the meet at www.gosycamores.com.

Women's Team

Heading to Indiana for the second time this season, the BYU women’s cross country team will compete against elite competition at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Terre Haute, Ind.

“This is a really big race for us as a team,” BYU lead runner Kate Bowen said. “We have not faced a lot of these teams and it will give us a chance to see how we measure up against the best competition.”

BYU is coming off an 11th-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational, a race that featured the top five teams in the country. This weekend, the Cougars will face off against No. 3 Florida State, No. 5 Georgetown, No. 6 Arizona, No. 9 Colorado, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 12 Stony Brook, along with 11 other top-30 teams.

Bowen and the Cougars will look to rekindle success at Pre-Nationals, where they have finished in the top-10 eight times in the last 10 years, with three first place finishes (2000, ’02, ’03).

Race time for the women is set at 9:00 a.m. MST. Results can be found after the completion of the meet at www.gosycamores.com.