After finishing in the middle of the pack at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago, the Ohio men’s and women’s cross country teams have a chance to redeem themselves Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind. at the 2013 Pre-National Invitational.
The meet features the top schools in the NCAA and provides the first real glimpse of the best competition for the Bobcats before the NCAA Regional meet.
The men will have to run against three of the top five squads in the country with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Colorado and No. 4 Oregon set to compete.
“It’s kind of like a mini-(Mid-American Conference) preview,” sophomore Jarrod Genther said. “We want to go get a top three finish.”
In addition to the top-ranked competition, the MAC will be represented by Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Toledo and Ohio.
Genther currently views his squad as a contender for a top three spot in the conference and believes the Pre-National Invitational will be a solid opportunity to back up his words.
“Eastern Michigan is looking good right now but second and third are not out of the question for us,” Genther said. “The teams that are in the hunt are all going to be there on Saturday.”
Ohio was projected to finish in seventh place in the MAC preseason coaches’ poll entering the season, but Ohio coach Clay Calkins said it wouldn’t be unrealistic to finish in the top five.
On the women’s side, Ohio will also have face its strongest competition this season, as 86 teams are scheduled to compete in the race, while the men square off against 75 teams.
For the third-consecutive meet, the Ohio women will compete with No. 2 Florida State. The past two tournaments with the Seminoles occurred at Wake Forest and Notre Dame, though No. 5 Oregon also will be in attendance Saturday.
Calkins thought the Ohio women’s team could finish among the top three finishers in the MAC prior to the start of the year. And this will be the first meet the Bobcats will see the majority of its MAC competition.
After Saturday, Ohio will have another two weeks of preparation before competing in the MAC Championships on Nov. 2 at Bowling Green.
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