The Ball State men's and women's cross country teams will travel to the 48th annual Notre Dame Invitational tomorrow for one of the largest intercollegiate meets in the naton.
The women's team will line up against 17 other teams in the Blue division; three of which are nationally ranked. According to the most recent FinishLynx poll, Notre Dame is ranked second in the country, Wake Forest is ranked 20th and Washington is ranked 25th. Duke will also be in attendance and has been ranked in previous polls, and California is another team that is close to reaching the polls. Mid-American Conference teams competing tomorrow include Akron, Central Michigan and Western Michigan.
The Cardinals have fared well when competing against MAC teams this season. At the Miami Invitational they finished behind only Miami and ahead of both Akron and Buffalo, and this past weekend they finished ahead of Western Michigan and Bowling Green.
The team is coming off of a first place finish at the Central Collegiate in which Jill Scully, Crystal Meeks and Sarah Huddleston all placed within the top four. Scully was named the MAC runner of the week after getting her second first-place finish of the season at the Central Collegiate.
Junior Linda Stebbins, who ran for the first time at the Central Collegiate last weekend, will sit out this meet as she continues to recover from a back injury.
After finishing seventh last year at the Notre Dame Invitational, head coach Sue Parks said she would like to finish within the top eight this year.
"Anybody (that finishes) in the top 10 is going to be good," Parks said.
"I think we're ready for a meet at this level," Parks said. "We're ready to go."
The men's team will compete in the Gold division, which is a step below the Blue division, with 18 other teams. Akron is the only other MAC team competing with the Cardinals. Michigan State and Notre Dame will have "B" teams entered, and two nationally ranked Division III teams will also compete. Calvin College is ranked second in the most recent Division III rankings and Wisconsin-Stevens Point is ranked seventh. The team will also send three runners to compete in the open race.
The team is coming off of a break after competing in the Indiana Intercollegiate two weeks ago in which they placed fifth.
Senior Sal Impellitteri will not run this weekend, as he is still in the process of recovering from a hip injury.
"Our goal is to go out and win this race," student assistant Michael Johnson said.
Both teams will use this meet as a way of preparing for the Pre-NCAA meet, which will take place in two weeks in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
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