BERKELEY --- This weekend is an important one for the California cross country teams as the programs prepare for the final stretch of the season.

On Saturday, October 15, the Golden Bears will have teams competing at events in Indiana and California for the second time this year.
Some runners will be racing in this year's NCAA Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. – home of this year's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The others in action this weekend will compete in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.

At Pre-Nationals, Cal will run in the women's 6K at 8 a.m. PT and the men's 8K at 8:35 a.m. PT. The Bronco Invitational will see the men's squad run first in the Invite 8K at 9 a.m. PT and the women's team finish in the Invite 6K at 9:45 a.m. PT.

PROJECTED LINEUPS
Pre-Nationals
M: Kai Benedict, Robert Brandt, Trent Brendel, Garrett Corcoran, Steve Correa, Takeshi Okada, Paul Zeiss
W: Georgia Bell, Megan Bordes, Marissa Dobry, Skyler Flora, Bethan Knights, Xochitl Navarrete, Marissa Williams

Santa Clara
M: Eugne Hamilton III, John Hogan, Leland Jones, Max Leach, Evan Malone-White, Cameron Tu, Lewis,
W: Jackie Chandler, Natalie Herberg, Nuria Tio Peig,

HEAD COACH SHAYLA HOULIHAN QUOTES

On the team heading to Pre-Nationals:
"I believe this group will race a little bit better than we did at Notre Dame two weeks ago. We've been training very hard, knowing how much distance we have to cover at the national meet 6 weeks from now. It's all part of the plan and the process of the season, with the ultimate goal being to perform our best at NCAA Regionals and Nationals"

On the group competing in Santa Clara:
"Santa Clara will be a very important race for us as well. We are mixing new people into our Indiana squad and letting some of our top competitors stay here. This meet gives some athletes a chance to focus on recovery and their studies. It's great to have the flexibility to ensure we have a happy and healthy group of seven come postseason."