The Drake University cross country program is set to host the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship Saturday, Nov. 2. The Bulldogs will welcome their conference foes to Des Moines to compete at Blank Golf Course with the men's 8-kilometer championship starting at 10:30 a.m. followed by the women's 5-kilometer race at 11:30 a.m.

Coming off a two-week break following a successful meet at Bradley, the Bulldogs aim to compete well at home this weekend.

“Our kids have been working hard all year, all summer, all fall,” head coach Dan Hostager said. “Most are coming off a personal best two weeks ago at Bradley, so we put a lot of work into getting in shape, so we're excited.”

Last year at the MVC Championship, held in Normal, Ill., Indiana State's John Mascari took the men's individual title and Southern Illinois claimed the team title. This year, Mascari is back to try to reclaim his title. Drake finished in fourth place with Brogan Austin coming in at third individually.

This year, the Drake men's team will be carried by Rob McCann, Conor Wells, Ryan Flynn, Reed Fischer, Doug Brady and Ian Harkreader who have shown marked and continued improvement throughout the season. The men were projected to finished eighth in the MVC's pre-championship poll by the league's coaches. SIU was picked to defend its title with eight of the possible nine first-place votes going the Salukis' way.

For the women, sophomore twins Kristen and Caitlin Busch of Bradley University are ranked first and second in the conference and are looking to oust Illinois State as conference champions. In the Valley's pre-championship poll, Bradley was tabbed first with six first-place votes, just ahead of Illinois State. Drake was projected to finish tied for sixth with Indiana State.

Taylor Scholl, Emma Huston, Krista Maguire, Erin Poss, Amanda Marwitz, Melissa Parks, Cassie Aerts and Angela Ufheil will be running for the Drake women as the team hopes its impressive depth yields solid results in the scoring.

“We've got tremendous depth this year, so we've had a few different runners be our top runner at any given meet,” Hostager said regarding the women's team.

Although the course at Blank Golf Course is not Drake's traditional home course, Hostager is hoping that simply being home in Des Moines will be an advantage.

“We only get to host this once a decade, so it's kind of a big deal,” Hostager said. “The kids are excited. They're in shape and ready to go.”