Oct. 15, 2009

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton men's and women's cross country teams are gearing up to compete in the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday Oct. 17 in Terra Haute, Ind. Both squads will be facing some of the toughest competition in the country as they look to continue their successful fall seasons.

Both meets will feature 70 of the best teams from all across the nation, and will be split into even 35-team fields to make the course more manageable. The men will compete in the "white" division race which will begin at 11:40 a.m. ET, while the women will compete in the "blue" division race beginning at 12:20 a.m. ET.

The men's team will get a chance to challenge conference rival UMass - rated No. 1 in the Atlantic 10 - as they enter the meet ranked second in the A-10 coaches' poll. Also competing in the Flyers' field is Stanford, which is the No. 1 ranked team nationally. And while the Flyers will have their work cut out for them with those two teams, there are an additional eight nationally-ranked programs competing against the Flyer men this weekend.

The men's team will be led this weekend by four-time Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week Chris Lemon, who set a new school record of 24:05 on Oct. 2 at the Notre Dame Invitational. Fellow junior Matt Lemon is also coming off a stellar performance in South Bend, where he ran a new personal best time of 24:19.

The women's team also is facing great competition, as they will also run against several nationally-recognized teams themselves. They will also look to outpace a host of regional foes in Cincinnati, Ohio, Toledo and Miami (OH).

The Flyer women will depend on the legs of three-time Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week, Maureen Bulgrin, who ran a time of 17:48 at the Notre Dame Invitational in leading the team to a second-place finish. The second part of the team's 1-2 punch this season has been junior Liz Coorey, who placed 11th overall in South Bend.

Stay tuned to www.DaytonFlyers.com for complete results and a recap of Saturday's action.