ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's cross country team will face its toughest  test of the season at Lehigh on Friday, facing off against six nationally ranked teams plus other competitive schools at the Paul Short Invitational. The men's races begin at 10:10 a.m.

No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 15 Syracuse, No. 17 Providence, No. 18 Villanova, No. 19 Virginia, and No. 22 Georgetown will be stiff competition for the Red, and teams like William & Mary and Richmond — who both made nationals last year — Navy, and the entire Ivy League will also be present.

The men are coming off a tri-meet at Colgate two weeks ago where its top five all ran well and it was very competitive with No. 15 Syracuse. This weekend the team expects find out if that result against the Orange was a legitimate result or if it was a bit of a fluke since it was Syracuse's first race. After this weekend, assistant coach Robert Johnson thinks there will be little doubt as to where the team stands both nationally and within the Ivy League.

The team had a strong showing by its top five at Colgate and Johnson is expecting those top five athletes to continue to run well. The team will also be bolstered by the addition of three of its better juniors to the lineup in Kevin Johnson, Matt McCullough and Bobby Micikas. Coming into the year, those three would have been projected to be in the team's top five, but they weren't quite where the coaches wanted them at the start of the season.

The Paul Short Invitational will be Micikas' first race of the year, and he has been running up front often as the No. 1 guy in practice.

The Cornell women also faces a challenge test in the same meet, going up against a field of 45 schools that includes seven women's teams ranked in the top 25. Their races begin at 10 a.m.