The Wichita State cross country team heads to Lincoln, Neb. to race against 25 schools at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational on Saturday.
 
"This meet should be good," head coach Kirk Hunter said. "It's going to be a testing ground that will lead us into Missouri, which is an even better meet, and all the way into the conference meet. As we go through the season, these meets will decide who we're going to be."
 
The Shocker women sit at No. 10 in the USTFCCCA Midwest regional rankings and race first in the 5K at 9 a.m. with the men (No. 13 Midwest) to follow in the 8K at 9:45 a.m.
 
Wichita State is coming off two second-place team finishes at the JK Gold Classic. Yazmine Wright won the women's individual title with a personal-best time of 17:34.10 in the 5K, earning American Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week honors.
 
"On the women's side, I'm looking for progression," Hunter said. "Obviously, Yazmine started off well, and I want to see her continue to shine. Danielle Rinn did a great job, Lubna (Suied) was strong and I was extremely impressed with what Abeba (Sullivan) did the first meet out."
 
The Shockers compete against eight other Division I teams, including the Air Force women, who came in at No. 10 in the Mountain regional rankings.
 
"We have the infrastructure to have a good, solid team, but we're low on depth," Hunter said, "so we need everybody to step up."
 
On the men's side, Clayton Duchatschek led the way week one with a sixth-place finish and a 12-second personal-best time of 18:26.63 (6K).
 
"For the men, I'm wanting to see how they adapt to running 8,000 meters," Hunter said. "That's what we'll be racing for the rest of the season."
 
Top teams on the men's side this weekend include cohost Nebraska, whose men are currently ranked No. 7 in the Midwest regional rankings, and No. 7-ranked (Mountain Region) Air Force.
 
"We have such great depth and the ability to run an extremely strong team competition," Hunter said. "I need to see a group of guys that buys into being the best 8,000-meter cross country runners they can be and that will show the talent that we have on our team."
 
Fans can follow along on Twitter at @GoShockersTFXC for updates.