The Emory men’s and women’s cross country teams face their biggest challenges of the season when they travel to Winneconne, Wisconsin, to compete in Saturday’s AAE Invitational. The Invitational will be held at the Lake Breeze Golf Club with the 6,000-meter Division III women’s race beginning at 10:30 a.m., followed by the 8,000-meter Division III men’s race at 11:15 a.m.
This year’s Invitational will feature approximately 48 women’s and 47 men’s squad’s with up to 10 runners competing for each team. Both races will feature a healthy number of nationally ranked programs hitting the course, with 14 men’s teams and 12 women’s squads in the USTFCCCA National Polls.
Among the 14 nationally ranked men’s teams competing are: top-ranked UW-Eau Claire, third-ranked North Central College (Ill.), fifth-ranked Washington University (Mo.), 11th-ranked Wabash College (Ind.), 13th-ranked St. Lawrence University (N.Y.), 14th-ranked and host UW-Oshkosh, 21st-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa), 23rd-ranked Augustana College (Ill.), 25th-ranked UW-Platteville, 26th-ranked Loras College (Iowa), 27th-ranked John Carroll University (Ohio), 32nd-ranked Central College (Iowa), 33rd-ranked Willamette University (Wash.) and 34th-ranked Calvin College (Mich.).
The Emory women, ranked 27th on the national scene, will be battling other high-powered programs such as No. 5 Washington University, ninth-ranked St. Lawrence University, 10th-ranked Hope College (Mich.), 13th-ranked University of Chicago , 14th-ranked Willamette University, 15th-ranked Otterbein University (Ohio), 16th-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.), 22nd-ranked St. Olaf College (Minn.), 24th-ranked Calvin College, 26th-ranked UW-Eau Claire, and 30th-ranked University of St. Thomas (Minn.).
Both the Emory men and women last competed on October 3 when they each captured first-place finishes at the JSU Foothills Invitational in Oxford, Alabama.