LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams return to competition this Saturday as they will compete in the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Taking part in their largest meet of the season thus far, the Jayhawks are among a field of 57 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams from across the country running at the LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course. The competition will be fierce, as there are 11 nationally ranked men’s teams running on Saturday, while there are 10 on the women’s side which are in the nation’s top-25. The Kansas men will kick things off in the 8K Blue Race at 10:35 a.m. (CT), to be followed by the women’s team in the 6K White Race at 11:15 a.m. (CT).
"We're excited for the opportunities for both the men's and women's teams (this weekend). This will be the biggest meet of the season thus far and will also give us a really good indication of where we stand within the nation."
Stanley Redwine, Head Coach
Almost two weeks ago, on October 5, the Jayhawks again kept both team titles in the host school’s hands for another season at the 2019 edition of the Rim Rock Collegiate Classic, as the women claimed an eight-point victory over runner-up Kansas City (31-39) while the men bested Northern Colorado, by 33 points, 17-50.
Sophomore Ally Ryan led the way for the KU women, claiming her second individual victory of the season with her time of 22:59.3, crossing the finish line nearly a minute and a half ahead of the next runner. Ryan was joined by four other Kansas women to make up 50% of the top-10 overall runners to claim the team title as well.
Michael Melgares was the first collegian to complete the 8K course at Rim Rock Farm, traversing the wet and muddy conditions in a time of 25:47.4. The top runner of the day donning the Crimson and the Blue was approximately 10 seconds behind the overall top-two unattached finishers of the race, Joe Moore (25:30.7) and Chris Melgares (25:31.7), both members of the Kansas City Smoke. Running as a pack worked out well for the Jayhawk men, as they saw four finishers among the top-10, which led to their team title.
UP NEXT
Kansas cross country has a weekend off before competing in the 24th annual Big 12 Cross Country Championship, which takes place November 2, at Cottonwood Creek Golf Club in Waco, Texas. The men’s 8K is scheduled to start at 10 a.m., and be followed by the women’s 6K at 11 a.m.
