Marquette Cross Country Compete in Pre-Nationals
10/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 11, 2007
MILWAUKEE - On Saturday, Oct. 13, the Marquette cross country teams will make the trip to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete at the 2007 Pre-Nationals. After competing two weeks ago against some of the premier competition in the country at the Bill Dellinger Invite, the Golden Eagles look to continue to improve under first-year head coach Mike Nelson.
"This will be a very competitive meet. It is going to be the best opportunity of any meet in the country to earn points for an at-large bid to nationals," Nelson said.
At the Bill Dellinger Invite, senior Cassie Peller led the MU women, with a time of 21:05, while sophomore Jane Grebinski finished not far behind in 21:28. The women placed ninth out of the 15 teams that were competing. That number may be a little misleading considering that six of the women's squads were ranked among the nations Top-24.
Senior Scott Mueller paced the men for the second time in as many meets with a time of 24:17. Junior Nick Szczech was, once again, the second place finisher for MU at 24:38 and junior Kyle Saginus returned from injury to complete the course in 25:10. The team finished 14th out of 15 teams, of which eight were ranked.
With over 80 teams competing, the event has been split into separate races that will include 40 teams per race. The races will be seeded equally according to rank. The Marquette men will compete in the 8,000 meter "White" race, which begins at 11:40 a.m. ET, while the women's 6,000 meter "Blue" race will start at 12:20 p.m. ET. The Golden Eagles will earn points as a team based on the number of ranked opponents they beat. The points earned will carry over in an effort for an at-large bid to nationals.
"There will be so many teams competing so it is the best meet to find ranked opponents. It is important for us to run well so we can begin earning points to earn an at-large bid to nationals. With enough points we can make it to the championships," Nelson said. "There will be a lot of good teams so it is an opportunity to find out how good we are right now. I really think the kids are ready to go. "
Players Mentioned
