Oct. 13, 2006

MILWAUKEE - After two weeks of preparation, the men's and women's cross country teams travel to Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday, for the Pre-NCAA Championships held on the LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. Twenty men's teams and 25 women's teams that are ranked among the top 30 in the USTFCCA Division I National Poll will compete this weekend. Both the MU men (33rd) and women (11th) are eager to improve on their finishes from 2005, as well as move closer to securing a bid in the 2006 NCAA Championships.

With 90 teams competing in the event, both the men's and women's races will each be split into two, 35-team fields. The Golden Eagle women will take to the 6,000-meter course in the second heat at 11:35 a.m. ET, and the men at 12:10 p.m. ET in the first heat of the 8,000-meter race.

"This is the biggest meet in the country besides the national meet," said head coach Dave Uhrich. "We are really looking for this to help us to get an at large bid at nationals. The work ethic has been extremely good. We did something we haven't in a while, taking two weekends off in between meets, and in that time we had some great workouts. People that had little nagging injuries have gotten over them and we are healthy. We feel really good about what we can do this weekend."

Senior Michaela Courtney led the MU women with a 30th-place finish (21:18) on the LaVern Gibson Course in 2005. Saturday's course has been changed slightly from last season and looks to produce faster results from a season ago. Joining Courtney against a field that consists of seven other teams from the BIG EAST (Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence and Villanova) will be six others, including Nicole Burr who will be competing for the first time this season.

Junior Josh Pinter was the top finisher last season for the Marquette men, finishing in a time of 25:40 on a course the exact same as this year. The men will also be competing against the same BIG EAST teams as in the women's race.

Competing in the open race for the women (1:30 p.m. ET start) will be junior Nina Hoppenjan and freshman Anna Weber. Competing for the men (2:05 p.m. ET start) will be sophomores Steve Briggs and Cody Miles.

Also competing this weekend will be juniors Colleen Kuenster and Beth Pollard on the women's side, as well as freshmen Chris Cebula and Eric Meissner on the men's. The four will run at the UW-Parkside Invite on Saturday, in Kenosha, Wis., at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course. The women's race is scheduled for 1 p.m. and men's at 1:45 p.m.