The Syracuse University women's cross country team travels west to compete in the 2009 Pre-Nationals Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, Ind., while the men heads south to race in the Panorama Farms Invitational hosted by University of Virginia on Friday at 4:45 p.m. The Orange women will be participating in one of two women's 6,000-meter races on Saturday, with the blue race slated to begin at 12:20 p.m., while the white race will follow at 12:55 p.m. 

Pre-Nationals will unite 75 collegiate programs, including 10 of the nation's top-15 teams. In addition to Syracuse, No. 1 Washington, No. 4 Oregon, and No. 5 Princeton will also compete.

The Orange is heading into Pre-Nationals coming off a week's rest. It last competed at the first-annual Wisconsin Adidas Invitational where the club finished just two points behind the winner, No. 10 Duke. In the race that included seven of the top 30 collegiate teams, junior Katie Hursey posted SU's best individual time (17:26), earning seventh place overall.

The Panorama Farms Invitational will feature four nationally ranked top-30 men's teams, including Syracuse, No. 10 Virginia, and No. 14 Duke. American, Maryland, Richmond, Tennessee, and Texas A&M will also field teams.

The No. 11 Orange men broke into the national rankings after a legging out a first place victory at the inaugural Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Oct. 3. The team scored 41 points, more than 20 ahead of the second place team, en route to beating out two of the nation's top 10 ranked collegiate programs. No. 10 Georgetown (60) took home second place, followed by the event's host, No. 4 Wisconsin.

Sophomore Tito Medrano looks to lead the Orange in Friday's race. Medrano posted the team's best time (23:56) at the Wisconsin Invite, taking third place overall. Medrano also finished second overall at the Colgate Invitational earlier this season. Senior Brad Miller (24:02), sophomore Griff Graves (24:06), and senior Dan Busby (24:11) were also among the top 10 finishers at Wisconsin and will all be competing for the Orange on Friday in Virginia.

Both Syracuse teams will reunite in Ithaca, N.Y. to compete in the John Reif Memorial on Friday, Oct. 23.