Jayhawks Return Home for Rim Rock Classic Saturday

Meet Notes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – One of the nation’s most popular cross country courses will be showcased this weekend in Lawrence when the Kansas men’s and women’s teams host the Rim Rock Classic Saturday morning, Oct. 4. The men will kick things off at the Jayhawks’ home course, Rim Rock Farm, with the 8K race at 9 a.m., while the starting gun for the women’s 6K is set to go off at 10 a.m.
 
Both teams are coming off solid outings last week at the Roy Griak Invitational (Sept. 27.) one of the largest meets KU will compete in this season, The Jayhawks will be tested with some stiff competition as they will go up against several highly-touted teams such as Rice, New Mexico State and Cal State Fullerton.
 
The KU men have seen strong performances from many runners in each of the Jayhawks’ first two meets of the year. Junior Jacob Morgan was Kansas’ top finisher at the season-opening Bob Timmons Classic with and will return to the sight of his runner-up finish this weekend. Senior James Wilson is also expected to be a part of the men’s pack Saturday, just a week removed from leading KU to an 11th-place finish in Minnesota. Freshman Chris Melgares has also been impressive in his first two races as a Jayhawk, posting a top-50 finish at the Roy Griak last week after posting a fourth-place finish at the Bob Timmons.
 
Several Jayhawk women have also had impressive starts to the season. Freshman Grace Morgan will try to pick up her second win in as many meets at Rim Rock Farm this weekend. The Lawrence native opened her year with the victory in front of her hometown and will try to rebound this week after finishing outside the top-100 at the Roy Griak last week. Nashia Baker enters the Rim Rock Classic with some momentum after coming in as the Jayhawks’ top finisher in Minnesota. Her twin sister, Malika will also vye for one of the top spots in the KU pack.
 
The Kansas women are expected to field 11 underclassmen in their race Saturday which includes Morgan, and Bob Timmons third- and fourth-place finishers Jennifer Angles and Rachel Simon. Kansas will need top performances from all if they are to try and pick up their first team win at the Rim Rock Classic.
 
Complete results, along with a full recap of the event including video of athlete and coach reaction, will be available on KUAthletics.com following completion of the races. Also follow on Twitter at @KansasXC for live updates and results throughout the morning.
 
The Jayhawks will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the ISU Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. The meet is slated to begin at 11 a.m., and will feature many of the top cross country squads in the nation.
 
 
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