Coming off their fourth consecutive Ohio Invitational sweep last weekend, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will venture to North Carolina for the Wake Forest Invitational Friday.
After resting the normal starting runners during last week’s home meet, the Bobcats will bring their top athletes to Winston-Salem and prepare for the final meet before the race to nationals begins.
“It’s not like we’re setting up to gun for Wake Forest,” coach Clay Calkins said.
“This early in the (season) we’re going to still (keep) pushing through and keep hitting it hard. You’ve got to keep it rolling this time of year.”
Ohio will face its top rival Miami, as well as Clemson, Florida State, Davidson and the host team, Wake Forest.
Calkins will use this week’s race as a tune-up for his teams’ final race before the Bobcats compete at the All-Ohio Championship on Oct. 4.
“Strategically we stacked them up at Miami,” said Calkins. “I think we’ve got high end potential that will benefit us. I think we can be very competitive.”
The women are led by senior standout Juli Acurrso, who posted a 17:30.2 at the Miami Invitational two weeks ago.
Also running with Accurso will be sophomores Kayla Scott and Krista Roeling, junior Morgan Reichert and senior Melissa Thompson.
During Miami's home invitational, a trio of RedHawk juniors claimed the top three times, as Jess Hoover (17:13.6), Anna Lamb (17:23.2) and Melissa Girgis (17:29.5) led the way.
In the men’s race, Ohio will compete for its third-consecutive first-place team victory.
Last weekend, sophomore Jake Gentile led the pack with a final time of 15:43.69, before freshman Michael McKean (15:57.88) and sophomore Jacob Stephens (15:58.87) followed to secure the second and third place spots.
Aside from the RedHawks, the Bobcats have yet to race against any Division I teams, making this weekend the first true opportunity for Calkins to judge how his teams stack up against the faster competition.
After this weekend, all collegiate teams will begin picking up points for their schools, vying for a nationally ranked spot.
gh181212@ohiou.edu
@charliehatch_
