After opening the season last weekend at Miami, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will look to continue their success on Saturday when they host the annual Ohio Invitational — the teams’ only home meet of the season.
With smaller schools invited to the meet, Saturday will be a solid opportunity for younger runners to pick up experience, coach Clay Calkins said.
A victory for both squads would mark the fourth consecutive sweep at the event.
“We’re holding out the top five (runners) on each side taking a chance,” Calkins said. “With that said, we don’t take them lightly.”
He continued to say that the main reason for keeping the men’s and women’s normal running rotation out of the meet is so the group can rest and prepare for next weekend.
Next Friday, the Bobcats travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the Wake Forest Invitational, which is one of the biggest meets Ohio will participate in this season.
But this weekend, the men will compete against Cleveland State, Ohio Dominican, Urbana and Capital, while the women will compete with Ohio Dominican, Urbana and Capital, as well as Cedarville.
Cleveland State is expected to be led by a trio of women, with junior Tori Holt, freshman Amelia Holt, and senior co-captain Ashley Berlin. However, the Vikings have been injury-stricken this season.
Despite resting the Ohio men’s runners that won at Miami last weekend, as well as the women that finished in second, Calkins expects the athletes that normally don’t travel to other meets to rise to the occasion in the home event.
“It’s always good to see if athletes can step up,” Calkins said. “A lot of newcomers have put in the work.” He also said they deserve their chance after practicing throughout the summer.
But for the Bobcats, Saturday is just another meet and another chance to perform well before heading to Wake Forest.
“In our sport, there are no trick plays,” Calkins said. “You just go out and run.”
The Invitational will kickoff at 10 a.m. with the women’s race, before the men compete at about 10:45 a.m.
The races will begin and end on the Ohio University golf course, behind the indoor tennis courts.
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@charliehatch_
