Cross Country to compete at Nuttycombe Invitational

Friday, September 28

Madison, WI

Southern Illinois University

Nuttycombe Invitational

Photo by: Tom Weber

09/27/2018 | 9:56:00 | Cross Country

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University cross country teams travel to Madison, Wis. Friday for the 10th annual Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

The prestigious meet will provide a look at the Zimmer Championship Course, which will host the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championship on Nov. 17. The race features a who's who of NCAA DI cross country with 19 of the Top-30 men's teams, 7 of which are in the top-10, slated to compete while the women's race will feature 15 of the top-30 teams.

"It's a spectator friendly course with a beautiful layout," third-year head coach Kevin Cataldo said. "They do a great job of maintaining the course and it produces some fast marks. I've never heard an athlete who has run on the course say they didn't like it."

The Salukis are coming off a trip to the Commodore Classic two weeks ago. Cataldo thought the week off served his teams well, as Southern endured a tough week of training in preparation for the Nuttycombe Invitational.

"We put in a solid amount of training so our legs are a little fatigued right now, which is to be expected at this point," Cataldo said. "(The week off) gave us a good block of training to now get in a race again and remember what a race feels like. Then we can tweak some things before our next race as well."

The Salukis will run in Friday's "B" races, with Southern's women set to run the 6K race at 11 a.m. followed by the men's 8K "B" race at 11:40 a.m.

"For some of our athletes, this meet will serve as a chance to realize they are just as good as the runners in this field," Cataldo said. "For others, this race will provide a glimpse at the next level that we as a team are moving toward."

The Saluki men will enter seven in Friday's race, led by redshirt senior Josh Maier. Maier will gain valuable exposure running on the national championship course with the hope of qualifying for the national meet later this season. Maier will be joined Friday by Cain Hassim, Jacob DeWitt, Reid Parsons, Theo Hassim, Michael Church and Jacob Bryan.

On the women's side, Southern will send six runners led by upperclassmen Megan Krolak and Olivia Murphy. Murphy was SIU's top-finisher at the Saluki Invite while Krolak was the first Saluki cross the finish line at the Commodore Classic. They will be accompanied by a quartet of freshmen in Kayla Schiera, Grace McDurmon, Maddy Hurt and Sydney Matusik. The race will be the first 6K race of the season for the Saluki women.

"We've put in a lot of training and while we are training through this meet, I want to see them compete and not focus on a time or a result," Cataldo said. "I want them to immerse themselves in competition."

Friday's meet begins with the women's "B" race at 11 a.m., followed by the men's "B" race at 11:40 a.m. The women's "A" race starts at 12:20 p.m. and the men's "A" race begins at 1 p.m. The race will be streamed live on Flotrack.