Wildcats to face heavy competition at Pre-Nationals

Saturday, October 14

Louisville, Ky.

Abilene Christian

NCAA Division I Pre-Nationals

Photo by: Jeremy Enlow

Wildcats to face heavy competition at Pre-Nationals

10/13/2017 10:27:00 AM | Cross Country

ABILENE – The Abilene Christian men and women's cross country team heads to Louisville, Ky. Saturday for the Adidas 2017 Pre-National Cross Country meet at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park hosted by University of Louisville.

Last Outing: The Wildcat women traveled to Minneapolis for the Roy Griak Invitational at Les Bolstad Golf Course where Michaela Hackett led the Wildcats with an eighth-place time of 21:45. Michaela's twin sister Alexandria Hackett finished 15th overall with a mark of 21:59.

Redshirt senior Diana García Muñoz cruised through the course in 22:39, and rounding out the Wildcats' top-five runners was Carnley Graham and Soren Underwood who finished 68th and 103rd, respectively.

The men's team last saw competition in mid September on their home course for the Naimadu Classic. Senior Ryan Cleary finished the race with a sixth-place showing of 26:16. Drew Cummings and teammate John Baker finished 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 26:39 and 26:45.99.

Freshmen Conner Miller and Seth Crockett rounded out the scoring five for the Wildcats. Miller finished with a time of 27:09 and classmate Crockett finished the four-lap course with a time of 28:02.

Men's Pre-Nationals Lineup – Ryan Cleary, Drew Cummings, John Baker, Conner Miller, Seth Crockett, Travis Nicholas, and Roy Kipkorir.

Women's Pre-Nationals Lineup – Michaela Hackett, Alexandria Hackett, Diana García Muñoz, Carnley Graham, Soren Underwood, Hannah Marut and Sierra Bennett.

Opposition: ACU will see competition from 44 women's teams including, No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Oregon, No.4 Michigan, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 16 BYU, No. 19 Utah State, No. 24 Missouri and No. 25 Georgia.

The men's side will face opposition from 58 teams including: No. 2 BYU, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 7 Colorado, No. 8 Oregon, No. 12 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Georgetown, No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 27 Utah State.

Race Time: The Wildcat women's team will participate in the Women's Red Seeded 6K Race at 10:45 a.m. The men's team will compete in the Men's Black Unseeded 8K race at 11:30 a.m.

Coach's Quote: "Both of our teams are fit and feeling good heading into Pre-Nationals," distance coach Jarvis Jelen said. "We are excited to race in a very competitive field on a fast course in Louisville. This is not the most important meet of the year, but it is one that we want to run well at since we are now nearing the championship portion of our season. It is also important for us to preview the nationals course and see where we stack up against some of the best teams in the country."

How to Watch: Cross country fans can follow all the action through a subscription to FloTrack.org. Coverage begins at 8:25 a.m. CDT.