LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas cross country team is ready to compete in the Pre-Nationals Invitational, hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, Oct. 14.
The men and women will both run at Panorama Farms, with the men competing in the Championship Blue Race starting at 8:40 a.m. CT and the women competing in the Orange Race at 10 a.m.
The Pre-Nationals Invite will include 21 women’s teams including Arizona, Kansas State, Louisville, Miami, Missouri and Washington State, along with 22 men’s teams including Arkansas, Duke, Minnesota, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech, among others.
The men enter the weekend ranked No. 9 in the Midwest Region in the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country (USTFCCCA) regional rankings, which came out Oct. 2. The team is led by senior Chandler Gibbens, who was named the NCAA Division I National Athlete of the week by USTFCCCA after his first-place finish at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitation, in which he broke his personal-best by 31 seconds with a time of 23:08.4 in the 8K. Gibbens earned Big 12 Runner of the Week honors as well.
So far this season, the KU men have claimed two first-place finishes in just four meets. Earlier in the year, the Jayhawks were led by sophomore Tanner Newkirk, who finished first at the season opening Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic.
The men will be traveling Chandler Gibbens, Cale Littrell, Tanner Newkirk, TJ Robinson, Sawyer Schmidt, Tanner Talley, Treyson True, Quenton Walion and Peter Walsdorf.
The women come into the meet after finishing in sixth amongst 23 teams in the 6K at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo. two weeks ago. KU was led by senior Lona Latema, who placed fourth in a field of 217 participants in her first showing of the 2023 season.
Earlier this season, the women earned a second-place finish at the Bob Timmons Cross Country Classic and a fourth-place finish at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational. The Jayhawks were led by junior Kenadi Krueger, who earned a top-10 finish in both events.
The women will be traveling Makenna Anderson, Caroline Burrow, Addie Coppinger, Laya Erickson, Kenadi Krueger, Lona Latema, Eden Schwarz, Abigail Street and Tori Wingrove.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
The Pre-Nationals Invite will be streamed on ACC Network Extra by ESPN throughout the entirety of the meet. ACCNX is available through the ESPN app and at WatchESPN.com for customers who have the ACC Network as part of their TV subscription.
Fans can also follow along the official Kansas Track & Field and Cross Country social media accounts for live updates throughout the meet.
Live results will be available here, provided by PrimeTime Timing.
