The second half of the season begins for both Ohio cross country teams today. Starting with today's Notre Dame Invitational, the Bobcats will face top competition in every meet in which they compete for the rest of the season.
There are no small races left
coach Clay Calkins said. We're starting I guess you could call it the competitive part of the season. It's a higher level of competition up until the (Mid-American Conference) meet and beyond.
The Bobcat men will compete with three nationally ranked schools in the blue division race: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 8 Arizona.
Craig Leon said it's a great opportunity for Ohio to run against some talented teams.
I think we're all just really excited
he said. We know there are some great teams
some great competition
so we're just going up there to compete and see how we can finish.
The women's team will face Big East schools Cincinnati, Louisville and West Virginia in the gold division race.
Top runners on both the men's and women's teams will be returning to competition after some did not race last week.
Carime Reinhart said the week off has helped her mentally prepare for today's race.
Notre Dame is definitely a good race
she said. It's a fast course
so it should be good as far as running times.
Calkins said the Notre Dame Invitational is a good meet for both the returning and new runners on the team.
It's the exact same course each year
so (returning athletes) can run the course and see where they're at this time of the year. For the new athletes
it's a great meet to see some of the top athletes in the country and get to run against them and be in the same level of competition with them.
MAC schools Akron and Miami will be the only other conference schools competing in South Bend, Ind.
The Bobcat women compete in the 5K blue division race at 2 p.m., and at 5 p.m. the men's 8K blue division race kicks off.
