Oct. 16, 2009

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University men's and women's cross country teams will face its toughest competition of the year Saturday at the Pre-Nationals Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University, in preparation for the Mid-American Conference Championships and Regional Championships in the upcoming weeks.

With over 70 men's and women's teams competing Saturday, the field is divided evenly in half with a Blue Race and a White Race for each gender. The Miami men will run in the 8K Blue Race, which begins at 11 a.m. ET, while the RedHawk women will run in the 6K Blue Race, which starts at 12:20 p.m. ET. Both races will take place on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.

Of the 35 teams competing in the men's Blue Race, eight are ranked nationally in the top 30, including No. 2 Northern Arizona and No. 3 Alabama, while all but four of the teams are ranked regionally by the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The RedHawks are 11th in the latest USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region poll and will also see Michigan State (No. 6) and host Indiana State (No. 8) in the Blue Race field from the Great Lakes poll. Toledo is the only other MAC school running the Blue Race.

On the women's side, 37 teams are contending in the Blue Race, including seven teams ranked in the national top 30, led by No. 4 Oregon and No. 6 Stanford. Miami's women's team, which is ranked No. 8 in the Great Lakes Region, will also run against Butler, Dayton, Marquette, Michigan State and Toledo, all of whom are ranked along with Miami in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region poll. Central Michigan and Ohio University join the RedHawks and Rockets as the only MAC schools in the women's Blue Race.

In its last race Oct. 3, the Miami men won the 39-team Sean Earl Loyola (Chicago) Lakefront Invitational behind a runner-up finish from senior Kevin Silver (Beachwood, Ohio). Redshirt freshman David Eichenberger (Plainfield, Ind.) placed 12th as five RedHawks finished in the top 20. Silver was Miami's second finisher at last year's Pre-Nationals Invite, claiming 62nd, while the team placed 16th out of 41 teams.

The Miami women last competed Oct. 2 when the 'Hawks finished second out of 42 teams at the All-Ohio Championship in Delaware, Ohio. Senior Kelsey McHugh (Columbus, Ohio) led Miami with a ninth-place finish while fellow senior Amanda Mirochna (Naperville, Ill.) crossed a second later in 10th. The RedHawks took 19th place at last year's Pre-Nationals Invite led by a 58th-place finish from McHugh.

After Pre-Nationals, both teams return to action Saturday, Oct. 31 when they travel to Athens, Ohio for the MAC Championships, where the Miami women will look to defend its 2008 league title.

--MURedHawks.com--

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