The Drake University men's and women's cross country teams begin the championship portion of their season on Saturday with the annual Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Carbondale, Ill. The women's 5-kilometer race is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. followed by the 8-kilometer men's race at 11:30 a.m.
The Bulldogs' season to date has progressed through training leading up to Saturday's championship races.
“We're coming off a good race and we're excited about the conference championships,” said Drake head coach Dan Hostager. “We've been getting better and showing significant improvement every week. The conference for both men and women is pretty even and wide open and there's a lot of quality depth.”
Both teams are coming off of one of their top races to date at the ISU Pre-National Invitational on Oct. in which the men's team finished second thanks to Brogan Austin's (Boone, Iowa) fourth-place finish of 24:55.4 on the 8-kilometer course. That time is also the fourth-fastest in the MVC this season while Rob McCann's (Mississauga, Ontario) time of 24:38.9 at the Oct. 4 Chile Pepper Festival is the eighth best in the league this year.
The women's last competition at a 5-kilometer produced 10 season bests at the distance during the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 4. Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) recorded the team's fastest 5-kilometer time of the season with a 17:24.8 finish followed by Taylor Scholl (Prior Lake, Minn.) with a time of 17:59.7. Huston's time is the fourth-fastest in the league this season.
“Our group is really focused on the last few meets of the year and especially the conference meet,” Hostager said. “It's easier with a veteran group like this that knows what to expect with the level of competition. The other teams are all doing the same thing and they're going to be keyed up for this race. Individually and team-wise it should be one of the best conference races we've seen in a long time.”
In the league's annual pre-championship poll, the Drake men were projected to finish seventh, but received one first-place vote. The women's squad was tabbed eighth in its preseason poll of MVC coaches. Last season, competing on their home course Drake's men's team finished ninth while the women were sixth.
Following Saturday's MVC Championship the team's late-season schedule continues on Nov. 15 with the NCAA Regional Championship in Peoria, Ill.
