SOUTH BEND, Ind./COLUMNIA, Mo. – The Wichita State cross country teams are splitting up for a weekend of competitive races with the men's team running at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and women racing at the Gans Creek Classic.
 
The Shocker women will run their first 6K of the season Saturday at 9:45 a.m. at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., while the men are set to race in the blue division five-mile on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at Burke Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

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GANS CREEK CLASSIC
Friday, Sept. 29 | Men's 8K: 9 a.m. | Women's 6K: 9:45 a.m.
Columbia, Mo. | Gans Creek Cross Country Course
Live Results
 
JOE PIANE NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL
Friday, Sept. 29 | Men's 5-mile: 10:15 a.m. CT
South Bend, Ind. | Burke Golf Course
Live Results

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STARTING LINES

• Adam Rzentkowski is set to make his Shocker debut after racing unattached to win the JK Gold Classic in week one.
• Still without Adrian Diaz Lopez, the Shocker men will run an almost-full squad against 17 regionally-ranked teams, including four nationally ranked opponents, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 21 NC State, No. 27 Alabama and No. 28 Montana State.
• This marks the first time since 2017 that the Shocker men have run a five-mile race, the last time also being at the Joe Piane Invitational.
• The Wichita State five-mile record is held by George Collier, who ran 23:48.4 at the 1981 Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
• Wichita State men will face Kansas for the second-consecutive race, this time with four more of the Shockers' top runners. KU claimed the Greeno/Dirksen red division win over Drake and WSU to move up to No. 5 in the Midwest region.
• The Joe Piane Invite will be the Shockers' first look at American Athletic Conference opponents, Charlotte and Tulane. The 49ers rank seventh in the Southeast region, and the Green Wave was slated second in the South Central region in the week two USTFCCCA rankings.
• After sitting out the Nebraska meet, Sarah Bertry, the Shockers' No. 2 runner at the JK Gold Classic will make her return to the course at the Gans Creek Classic.
• The WSU women will be running their first 6K race of the season after racing 5Ks the previous two meets.
• The Wichita State 6K record is held by Aliphine Tuliamuk, who ran 19:33.7 to finish fourth at the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
• The Shocker women will race against four Midwest region teams ranked above them in week two, Bradley (6), Missouri (7), Nebraska (9) and Kansas State (10), giving them a chance to move up the rankings with a successful race.

COACH HUNTER ON…
...racing at a highly competitive Notre Dame meet:
" When meets are bigger like this, it really is about how well our team can handle the atmosphere because it's not the same as a Nebraska and definitely not like a JK Gold, where they're just running and can see each other in a comfortable environment where they're relaxed, and they can just feed off each other. In races like this, you don't get that opportunity as much, and you could get swallowed up in the race unless you know how to handle it effectively."
...getting a first look at AAC competition:
"The big thing for us is seeing where we stack up with Charlotte and Tulane because they're in our race and in our conference, so hopefully we get a chance to show our stuff. Even though we won't be running a completely full men's group yet, we're still going to have a really good idea of where we stand after this week."
...the women using the good competition to their advantage:
"If Colorado brings their A team, that's going to make a significant race in terms of competition. It's going to be a lot faster than anticipated. This could be a really good meet for the girls to have the same big situation as the guys where they have to handle some really high-level competition where they're not up front like they have been. This is a fantastic opportunity for the girls to improve their ranking. I hope that they're able to succeed and race as strong as they did at Nebraska, and I think if they do, they're going to do really well."
...keys to success for Lucy Ndungu:
" If Lucy's smart, she has to target people she knows. She needs to approach it by first finding the people she knows and racing those people because that's what's going to make her succeed, and that goes for every one of the girls."
...insight about the courses:
" Typically both courses are billed as kind of fast because they're not super hilly, and we've run fast at Gans Creek. We've had some really good performances on that course, but courses can be rendered slow by how you approach the competition, so it really comes down to how both teams adjust to the teams that we're racing. If we use those teams that we're racing, because that's the gift you have when you have great athletes, you can allow those good athletes to draw you to good times, and then you've done everything you can do."

LOOKING BACK

• Every Shocker who raced at the Greeno/Dirksen Inviational came away with a personal-best time.
• Three Shocker women, Lucy Ndungu, Miranda Dick and Lubna Aldulaimi, broke the 18-minute barrier in Nebraska.
• Ndungu was the top Shocker finisher in each of the first two races, winning the JK Gold Classic and placing third at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational, recording personal bests in both races.
• Both Shocker teams placed third in the red division at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational.
• Zander Cobb recorded the top Shocker finish at the Greeno/Dirksen, placing eighth in the red division 8K.
• The Wichita State men fell from fifth to sixth in the regional rankings after running a partial squad in week two, while the women entered the rankings at 11th in week one and moved to 12th in week two.