After a weekend off, the Illinois State cross country teams get a chance to see how they compare with other schools across the country in this Saturdays Indiana State Invitational.
This is a tremendous opportunity for the mens team to see where they stack up in the country, head coach Jeff Pigg said. Our kids have looked great the last two weeks. They have grown as a team, and they are protecting their health and fitness, giving them the opportunity to find out how good this team can be.
Pigg is looking for the same type of production he has seen from top runners Christian Goy, Lars Juhl, Peter Madsen and Mark Reed, as he has seen in the two previous meets. He also believes that Robert Breit and Kevin Bailey will be key for the Birds this weekend for an all-around team effort.
The teams in this meet are all very good, Pigg said. Indiana State is a good conference team running on their home course. Northern Arizona does not fly to this meet to run poorly, and Ohio State and Iowa are very solid Big Ten teams.
The womens team, which gets better day-by-day, will be running in their only 6000-meter race of the season.
The women are continuing to get better, Pigg said. Egle (Kregzdyte) will have a good race and continue her progression. We are being careful to protect her in every way for a good season. Its a step for a tremendous track season.
Competing mens teams include Illinois State, Air Force, Bradley, Indiana State, Iowa, Indiana-Purdue/Fort Wayne, IUPUI, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, Ohio and Southern Illinois.
Womens entries include squads from Illinois State, Air Force, Bradley, Indiana State, Indiana-Purdue/Fort Wayne, IUPUI, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, Ohio, Rose-Hulman and Southern Illinois.
The 6K womens race begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by the mens 8K race at 11:15 a.m. at Indiana States Bird-Gibson Recreational Facility.
