The University of Alabama men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the Notre Dame Invitational today.

Both teams look to improve with the trip to South Bend, Ind. The high-status race features some of the nation’s best cross country programs.

The fifth-ranked men’s team is entering a critical part of the season Friday. Head coach Joe Walker’s team will compete against a number of top 30 teams, including Florida State and Villanova.

“We’re to the part of our season where basically everything counts from this stage on,” Walker said. “Your preseason stage is done. Victories against ranked teams count.”

Walker is happy with his team’s pre-race preparation. He said the team has been working hard for today’s race.

Junior Moses Kiptoo echoed Walker, saying the team has been preparing during the past two weeks in an effort to improve from its Crimson Classic performance.

“We’re just trying to train hard,” Kiptoo said. “We should improve. We’ve worked on our strength.”

Overall, Walker is pleased with what his team has accomplished, but said great things can still come.

“We’ve got to do a better job of realizing how good we really can be,” he said. “We’ve got to come together to determine how good we want to be.”

The team will use this prestigious meet to help prepare them for the Southeastern Conference Championships and NCAA Regionals.

The women’s team wants to start strong in Friday’s race. After a close second place finish in the Crimson Classic, head coach Randy Hasenbank said his team needs to start stronger.

“We need to be more aggressive early,” Hasenbank said. “This is a race with high-ranked teams. The meets get a lot more intense.”

Hasenbank’s team will use this race as a steppingstone in preparation for the SEC Championships. He hopes his team has a top-three finish, and he knows that it is possible.

“Our goal is to win meets,” he said. “We’re known as a strong team. We need to create a mindset where we’re not afraid to go out and get up front and battle with the top individuals of the country. Our good athletes should not be afraid to become great.”

Due to the large number of competitors, junior Leigh Gilmore said it’s important to start strong and stay together.

“We want to run really well up front together,” Gilmore said. “We want to stay together and push each other.”

Gilmore said that how Alabama starts will be an indicator for how the Tide finishes.

“Coach Hasenbank tells us the front third always finishes in the top three,” Gilmore said, “so we just need to be conscious of what place we’re in and who’s around us.”

The Notre Dame course is flat, making it easier to for the teams to better their times. Cooler temperatures on race day should also help. With cooler weather comes faster times. Both coaches said the recent weather change has helped in this week’s training.

After today’s Notre Dame Invitational, both teams will have two weeks to prepare for the Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 16.