Saluki Cross Country gears up for Commodore Classic

Saturday, September 16

Nashville, TN

TBA

Southern Illinois University

Commodore Classic

09/15/2017 | 10:13:00 | Cross Country

Live Results Commodore Classic Info

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the 14th annual Commodore Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt University, on Saturday, Sept. 16.

The Salukis are one of 17 men's teams, and one of 18 women's teams, in a field that consists of several ranked teams, including a pair on the women's side in No. 14 Missouri and No. 21 Eastern Michigan. The men's 8K starts at 9 a.m., while the women's 5K follows at 10 a.m. Over 350 runners are slated to run the course at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tenn.

"The course is a little wet right now," said second-year head coach Kevin Cataldo of the course's conditions. "It should be dried out by the time we race on Saturday. The beauty of cross country is that it doesn't matter what the course is like, everyone still has to run through it."

After a week off from competition, Cataldo expects his teams to be ready to compete at one of the largest meets that the Salukis will run at this season.

"I expect them to immerse themselves in competition," said Cataldo. "It's going to be a big and talented field. We need to work on how to run as a pack in crowded fields. For our young athletes this meet is about not getting overwhelmed by the talent and depth of the field."

Megan Krolak won her first cross country race as a Saluki and was one of three Saluki women to finish in the top-15 at the Golden Eagle Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 2. Krolak won with a personal-best 5k time of 18:52.

What made Krolak's debut all the more impressive was that she trailed for much of the race. The Peru, Ill. native moved from 10th to fourth after the first mile, and after two miles, had moved to second in the field. With half a mile to go, Krolak closed the 20-meter gap between herself and the leader to win her first collegiate cross country title.

"(Krolak) managed herself well under duress," said Cataldo. "Towards the end of the race, the leader pulled away, and Megan was within 20 meters of striking distance. She is so competitive and closed really well. It was awesome to see her keep her composure all the way through to the end of the race."

On the men's side, Cain Hassim, Jacob DeWitt and Jonathan Vara also put together strong performances at the Golden Eagle Invitational, each cracking the top-25 at 15th, 20th and 25th, respectively. Josh Maier, who earned All-MVC honorable mention last season, will go full-tilt this weekend after using Southern's first meet as more of a "rust-buster".

Live results for Saturday's meet can be found here.