Jayhawks Head to Terre Haute for ISU Pre-Nationals
Oct. 12, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas cross country returns to action this weekend for the ISU Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Jayhawks will face their largest field and toughest competition thus far in the season, racing against 159 teams.
The ISU Pre-Nationals Invitational is run on the LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, which is home to the NCAA Cross Country Championships held in November. The Jayhawks are familiar with the course, having competed at pre-nationals for the last eight consecutive seasons.
The men’s team is coming off 16th place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Although some Jayhawks set career best times, Coach Whittlesey was not satisfied with their execution of the team-running strategy and hopes the squad can run as a pack at Terre Haute.
Junior Donny Wasinger, who has been the Jayhawks top finisher since the 2009 season, will set the tone for the crimson and blue at the pre-nationals race. He will be joined by team leaders Austin Bussing and Nick Caprario
Also competing this weekend for the men will be Josh Baden, Ben Wilson, Josh Munsch, Jose Munoz, Clay Schneider, Kaman Schneider, Nikki Trooien-Smith and Emilio Trujillo.
The women’s team enters the ISU Pre-Nationals Invitational after posting an 11th place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Junior Rebeka Stowe finished 12th overall in a field of 202 runners posting a career-best 6K time of 20:32 and sophomore Natalie Becker finally found her stride in her breakout race of the season. The team will look to Stowe, Becker, Amanda Miller and Tessa Turcotte as the key to success this weekend.
Also competing this weekend for the women will be Mackenzie Abernathy, Cori Christensen, Kara Windisch, Brenna Farren, Kyra Kilwein, Kathleen Thompson, Devin Wiegers, and Allie Marquis.
ISU Pre-Nationals is divided into three races (Blue, White and Open) for both the men and women. The men will compete in an 8K, while the women will run the 6K race. The women’s blue race will start at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women’s white race at 11:35 a.m., the men’s blue race at 12:10 p.m., the men’s white race at 12:50 p.m., the women’s open race at 1:30 p.m. and the women’s open race at 2:05 p.m.
Complete results and meet recap will be available at KUathletics.com following completion of the event.
