The Mississippi State men’s and women’s cross country teams return to the course Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., to participate in the Pre-National Invitational.Both teams will be coming off a bye week, which men’s head coach Steve Dudley said he uses to train the runners.
“A bye week allows us to have one week where we can substantially train our guys,” Dudley said.
The bye week came at a good time for the teams.
Prior to last week, the Mississippi State squads had competed in three consecutive races.
At those three events, the men’s team placed second at the Crimson Classic, first at the MSU Invitational and 12th at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Because of those finishes and a first place finish at the season-opening Sewanee Invitational, the men’s team is now ranked No. 7 in its region.
That ranking could be bolstered if the team does well Saturday when it goes up against some of the top ranked teams in America.
The ranking, however, is not foremost on Dudley’s mind.
He stressed the importance of this weekend and its significance.
“This is a huge weekend because it’s a part of our postseason races,” he said.
The team’s post-season includes the Pre-National Invitational, the SEC Championships, which will be held in Lexington, Ky., this season, the NCAA Regionals, which will take place in Gainesville, Fla., and the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Terre Haute.
Racing for the Bulldogs in Saturday’s 8K event will be junior Jonathan Rono, who has been the team’s top finisher in all four of its races this season, freshman Ben Blankenship, who has been the team’s second place finisher in al races, seniors Ashenafi Arega and Robert Scribner, junior Michael Chapa and freshman runners Adam Lenz and Matthew Cameron.
On the women’s side, head coach Al Schmidt knows that senior Annie Falor and freshmen Simone Domingue and Sarah Hammes will race in Saturday’s 6K event.
Falor, Domingue and Hammes have been key components in the team’s success this season.
They led the team to its first place finishes at the Sewanee Invitational and MSU Invitational, its fourth place finish at the Crimson Classic and its 20th place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.
However, Schmidt is still uncertain as to which teammates will race alongside Falor, Domingue and Hammes due to several injuries on the team.
“Our first three runners are solid,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been trying to deal with several injuries this season.”
Despite the injury bug that has plagued several members of the team, the Lady Bulldogs still sport a No. 9 regional ranking heading into Saturday’s competition.
Schmidt said the ranking is a good one, especially with the injuries the team has, but he’s still looking to improve upon it. A solid finish at Saturday’s event could better that ranking.
“Rankings are great, but it will come down to our conference meet and our regional meet,” Schmidt said.