The Drake University men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete at the annual Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Evansville, Ind., Saturday morning. The men's 8k race will start at 10:30 a.m. Followed by the women's 5k race at 11:30 a.m.
Both teams are coming off of successful finishes at the Bradley Classic where the men finished 16th thanks to Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) finishing second with a time of 23:52.2 on the 8-kilometer course while Griffin Jaworski (Winter Park, Fla.) recorded a season best time of 25:02.1. In the team's previous competition, Fischer recorded an MVC season-best 8-kilometer time of 23:43.61 at the Chile Pepper Festival.
“We haven't been at full strength all season on the men's side, but Reed Fischer has been our top guy at every meet,” said Drake head coach Dan Hostager. “He keeps getting better every meet. He's confident in his racing and training and should be up front."
The women finished in ninth place out of 30 teams in their last out at the Bradley Classic thanks to a third and fifteenth-place finish from Emma Huston and Krista Maguire with times of 20:28.5 and 21:03.5, respectively. Both Huston and Maguire recorded the two 5k best times in the MVC for the season at the Chile Pepper Festival with times of 16:48.09 and 17:00.63.
“Emma has dropped her time every week and her training has gone well,” Hostager said. “That confidence should carry over into the conference championship."
In the league's annual pre-championship poll, the Drake men were projected to finish seventh. The women's squad was projected to have a sixth place finish. Last season in Carbondale, Ill. the Drake men finished sixth while the women had an eighth place finish.
“Our kids have worked hard and gotten better every week,” Hostager added. "We have quite a few seniors on the women's side that have committed themselves to having a good season."
Following Saturday's MVC Championship the team's championship schedule will continue on Nov. 14 in Peoria, Ill. at the NCAA Mid-West Regionals.
