Salukis Look Ahead to Pre-Nationals

Saturday, October 19

Terre Haute, IN

10 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

UNDER ARMOUR PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL

10/18/2019 | 12:40:00 | Cross Country

By: Brandon Lindholm, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Saluki men and women's cross country teams will head to Terre Haute, Ind. to take part in the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University on Saturday, Oct. 19.

SIU will get a taste for what the NCAA Championships will look like, as Indiana State's LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course will again serve as the destination for the NCAA Championships for the 12^th time in the past 15 years.

"The course is very honest," said cross country coach Kevin Cataldo. "The first 1K will be fast as it's straight and then goes downhill. From there, it's a slow climb most of the way with twists and turns. It's a very spectator friendly course, which always makes for a fun race environment."

The Pre-National meet will boast some of the best programs in the country with 11 nationally-ranked teams on the men's side including BYU (2), Colorado (3), Washington (4), Ole Miss (8), Oklahoma State (14), Indiana (15), Iona (21), Eastern Kentucky (25), Arkansas (27), Virginia Tech (29) and Florida State (30). 57 teams in total will partake in the meet on the men's side, totaling 602 athletes.

"For the men, it's important to run as a pack and to keep our 1-5 spread very close together," said Cataldo. "Unfortunately, Reid Parsons won't be able to participate this week. Regardless of that, our guys have really done a nice job training the past few weeks. They've done a great job working together and grouping up. Chris Edwards and Jacob DeWitt have gained a lot of fitness over that time too."

The women's side features 10 nationally-ranked teams including BYU (2), Colorado (3), Michigan (7), Washington (8), Boise State (11), Florida State (11), Ole Miss (17), Illinois (20), Boston college (26) and Oklahoma State (30). The women will be up against 64 teams, totaling up to 659 athletes.

"Getting used to racing in a big field will be huge for the women," said Cataldo. "I think the objective is the same as the men. They need to pack up, while being in two different packs. Megan and Olivia have looked really good in the past two weeks of training, while our freshmen have gained confidence by doing workouts they aren't used to doing."

The women will be racing in their second 6K of the season at 11:15 a.m. while the men will race in their third 8K at 11:50 a.m. On the women's side, Megan Krolak, Olivia Murphy, Rachel Anderson, Fallon Russell, Madison Decker, Maddy Hurt and Sydney Matusik are all expected to run for the Salukis, while Cain Hassim, Jacob DeWitt, Chris Edwards, JT Hodges, Michael Church and Travis Hart are all expected to run for the men.

Even though the competition may be top-heavy, Cataldo believes that the Salukis have much to gain from this experience. "It's good for them to experience a national class competition," said the fourth-year coach. "It's good for them because it helps them take away what it takes to be good at this level. It may be an eye-opener for some of the younger athletes, but our expectations are for them to get onto that stage down the road."

"It will be a great test of our fitness and what changes we need to make before the conference championships," said Cataldo.

Schedule of Events
10:00 a.m. – Women's 6K Blue Race
10:35 a.m. – Men's 8K Blue Race
11:15 a.m. – Women's 6K White Race
11:50 a.m. – Men's 8K White Race
12:30 p.m. – Women's 6K Open Race
1:05 p.m. – Men's 8K Open Race

Follow Along
Live results will be tracked and can be found here, while live video can be viewed here. Admission into Saturday's meet costs five dollars and will only be accepted in cash.

For the latest updates on the Salukis, follow the team on Twitter (@SIUTrackXC), Instagram (@SIUTrackXC) and Facebook (@SalukiTrackAndField).