The Ball State women's cross country team will travel to Oxford,Ohio this weekend to compete in the Miami Invitational.
The team has had two weeks off since their last competition atthe Butler Open. At Butler, junior Jill Scully walked away with afirst-place finish and will look to keep her success going, alongwith teammates Sarah Huddleston and Crystal Meeks who also finishedin the top five at Butler.
"We're trying to progress at a speed everyone can handle," HeadCoach Sue Parks said about the past two weeks. "(The progress hasbeen) really good, we've worked really hard, trained really goodand everyone is relatively healthy."
This weekend's meet will feature a top 20 team in the Universityof Michigan. Miami and Akron, two of the stronger MAC teams, willalso be competing this weekend.
"I would like to beat the MAC teams," Parks said, even though itall eventually comes down to how the runners perform on the day ofthe MAC championships.
The team's focus after the Butler Open was to close the gapbetween the fourth and fifth runner and this weekend will be achance to see who has the potential to step up and fill thatrole.
Junior Linda Stebbins will not be competing this weekend becauseof a back injury. She is one runner who, once recovered, could helpclose that gap.
This weekend will be a tough test for the team with a top 20team like Michigan competing, but Parks said, "We can find out in ahurry how we can compete with other MAC teams."
The men's cross country team will also travel to Oxford thisweekend after having two weeks off since their lastcompetition.
Two weeks ago the team ran a 7K course at the Indiana Open inwhich senior Aaron Hoover placed fourth and freshman Justin Stadtand Jeff Kent also placed within the top ten.
This weekend the team will run an 8K course which is flat andshould help the team to get some good times. It will be the firsttime the freshman runners have run an 8K competitively, so theywill gain some valuable experience.
The past two weeks provided good time for the team to continuebuilding their conditioning level. The team made it through thetime off with no injuries and everyone is healthy. Senior SalImpellitteri, who did not compete at the Indiana Open because of ahip injury, will compete this weekend.
"We've had a lot of good workouts and accomplished everything wewanted to," Student Assistant Michael Johnson said. "After a weekoff, you're always excited to get out there and race."
Miami and Buffalo will be two conference teams that Ball Statewill face this weekend. Both teams will provide a challenge forBall State and will be the toughest test so far. Facing those teamshowever will give the team an opportunity to see where they standagainst other MAC teams. The whole team is very eager to get outand see what they can do.
Johnson said, "We'll see where they are against MAC schools andkeep everyone getting race experience."
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