Alabama’s men’s and women’s cross country teams have been preparing for a meet that could potentially help them as they inch closer to postseason running. The Tide will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 16 for their pre-nationals meets.

Both teams are coming off performances against tough competition at the Notre Dame Invitational, with the men’s team placing eighth out of 21, while the women placed 20th out of 24 teams.

This particular meet coming up splits all participating teams into two divisions: blue and white. Separating the competition helps the meet run more smoothly, but the two divisions are equally competitive, as they combine for 19 nationally ranked teams.

In the meet this weekend, Alabama’s men will participate in the 8-km race starting at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday. They will compete in the white division, which consists of 36 teams. The Tide will be accompanied by ranked schools No. 4 Colorado and No. 8 Portland.

“There are usually 20 of the top 30 teams at this meet,” Walker said. “The divisions are evenly divided so there isn’t one division that will be easier. They both will be equal.”

Walker said he believes that the team is looking forward to this meet, especially coming off their showing at the Notre Dame Invitational.

“I think they are looking forward to lining up again,” Walker said. “They want to put on a better performance.”

Walker said he believes that the team will perform better as a group in this meet and, as a result, will get a closer group of five guys that will help the team place better.

He isn’t the only one who believes the team is looking forward to this meet. Junior Joel Rop said the team has a goal to achieve.

“We want to get back to where we used to be ranked,” Rop said.

Even though Oregon will not be at the pre-nationals meet, Rop said he knows that some of the best teams in the nation will still be there. This illustrates the fact that there is not just one team that stands out in the competition they’ll soon face.

With this meet, the Tide will be inching closer to postseason running, and a strong performance could give the team more momentum. Rop said that their performance is key.

“It’s very important,” he said. “We’re trying to prove ourselves and run to our potential.”

While the men’s team keeps working hard, the women’s team also continues their work in order to prepare for pre-nationals.

Alabama’s women will begin racing in 6-km races starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The women will be competing in the blue division, which consists of 40 teams. Eight other ranked teams, highlighted by No. 3 Florida State and No. 6 Arizona, will accompany the Tide in this division.

The level of competition, though, is just as hard in the white division, which has nine ranked teams.  The No. 5 Georgetown and No. 9 Colorado highlight the white division.

Like Rop, junior Leigh Gilmore believes a good performance plays a big part when trying to gain momentum heading into postseason running. Gilmore emphasized the importance of a strong performance as the women’s cross country prepares for the pre-national meet.

“It gives us a lot of confidence as a team if we perform well,” she said.

This will be the second time the women will have competed in this meet, and so they know what to expect.

“We just need to bust out and run fast,” Gilmore said. “We know if we keep up with Washington or Oregon we’ll do just fine.”