Gopher Harriers Headed to Pre-Nationals

The University of Minnesota cross country teams are set to compete in tomorrow's NCAA Division I Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Indiana, the site of the NCAA Championships in November.

The #25 Gopher men and #26 Gopher women will each compete in the meet's "White" races. (The event splits its fields into two separate races -- White and Blue.)

The Gopher men will face nine ranked teams in their race, including #4 Colorado and #8 Portland State. The Gophers avoid #1-ranked Stanford, which is running in the Blue race. Remarkably, Minnesota is the only Big Ten school in the men's White race.

The Gopher women will see #5 Georgetown and #9 Colorado in their race. They'll also tangle with four other Big Ten teams: Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

Find complete team entries HERE.

The meet could prove important for both Minnesota squads, if they're forced to qualify for the NCAA Championships as at-large selections. Both teams are currently ranked #4 in the Midwest Regional. The top two teams from each NCAA D1 regional qualify for nationals automatically; 13 additional teams from across the nation qualify at-large.

Pre-Nationals will be covered live by Flotrack HERE. Coverage starts at 9:30 a.m. CDT.

Read the U of M previews for the meet HERE (men) and HERE (women).