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The Aquinas men's and women's cross country teams are racing again this Saturday (Oct. 22) when they host the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge. The 14th annual meet will take place at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. The men's maroon race will feature 19 out of 27 total teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll while the women will have 17 ranked/receiving votes teams out of 25 total in the maroon race.
 
MEN
 
The No. 19 Saints will face many top NAIA competitors this weekend in a race that will have national implications. The field contains No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 6 Saint Mary, No. 8 Grace, No. 12 Huntington, No. 13 Grand View, No. 14 Goshen, No. 15 Cornerstone, No. 17 St. Francis (Ill.), No. 20 Taylor, No. 21 Spring Arbor, No. 23 Lawrence Tech, and No. 24 Shawnee State. Teams that are receiving votes are Carroll, Marian, Doane, Montana Western, Montana Tech, and Olivet Nazarene. Last year's individual champion, Haile Stutzman, will return in an attempt to win the competitive meet once again. The Huntington senior set the course record at 24:16 last year. 
 
The Saints have taken 18th out of 45 teams and 2nd out of 24 teams in their last two meets when having their whole squad competing. AQ looks to move back up in the rankings with a solid performance this weekend.
 
This race serves as a preview for both the conference and national meets. Representing the WHAC along with Aquinas is Cornerstone, UM-Dearborn, Lawrence Tech, and Madonna that will be racing in the maroon division, while Indiana Tech, UM-Dearborn, Concordia, Lourdes, Siena Heights and Cleary will race in the White Division.
 
WOMEN
 
Like the men, the Aquinas women will face many top NAIA teams that will affect the national standings. Along with the No. 14 Saints is No. 2 Taylor, No. 3 St. Mary, No. 4 St. Francis (Ill.), No. 7 Cornerstone, No. 9 Grace, No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 17 Huntington, No. 19 Carroll, No. 20 Cumberlands (Ken.), No. 23 Goshen, No. 24 Indiana Tech and No. 25 Rocky Mountain. The following schools received votes in the most recent poll and are racing: Marian, Campbellsville, Olivet Nazarene, and Montana Tech. Sophomore Anna Martin from Cornerstone will look to reclaim her crown this year after winning the race last year with a time of 17:34. 
 
In the last two races when the women were at full strength, they had impressive showings at the Greater Louisville Classic and The GRCC Raider Invite. On Sept. 17, the Saints dominated the GRCC Raider Invite when their top-three finishers all inside the top-10. Then at the Greater Louisville Classic, Aquinas took 18th out of 47 teams.
 
The WHAC is well represented in the maroon race as Cornerstone, Indiana Tech and Madonna join Aquinas. In the white race will be Concordia, Lourdes, Cleary, Madonna, Lawrence Tech and Siena Heights.

IN THE NEWS

The prime-time meet recent received coverage from local media outlet, FOX 17 West Michigan. The news channel interviewed AQ seniors Ben Peterson and Zoe Antel, as well as Aquinas head coach Mike Wojciakowski on this weekend's meet. 

"Based on what we've done this year, we've had a really good progression of improving from August to now," Wojciakowski said. "With all these top teams coming in here, it's just hard to figure out where you fit against all of them as they're coming in, but in the top five in the event would be a great placing for both teams."  
 
The men's maroon race is the first event to go off on Saturday (Oct. 22) at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. The top-10 Saints go off at 10 a.m. with the rest of the men going off at 11:45 a.m. The first women's race goes off at 11 a.m., with the second going off at 12:45 p.m. Awards for the maroon races are at noon and the white races awards happen at 1:30 p.m.