TEMPE – After more than a month away from the cross country course, coach Cory Leslie's Sun Devils head to the Lone Star State for their final regular season races at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas.
The men's 8K and women's 6K races in College Station will be ASU's final tune-up before the squads trek to Beaver country for the Pac-12 Championships.
"It's a good opportunity for us to get a feel of what the Pac-12 meet is going to be like," Leslie said. "There are 280 women in this race and 260 men, so it's going to be important to keep our composure in such a large field with a lot of teams ranked in the top-five of their regions."
The field at the Dale Watts Golf Course will undoubtedly be the deepest the young Devils have faced this season with 18 regionally ranked men's teams and 17 regionally ranked women's teams toeing the line Friday morning.
Both of Leslie's teams are unbeaten so far this season with wins at the Cactus Opener and USD Invitational back in September. It's been all Megan Reniewicki and Daan Haven leading the way for the women's team as they've split top-finishes at both outings. For the men, Ian Kebenei has been the No. 1, but true freshman Vincent Mauri has been on the sophomore's heels in each event.
"I think you could ask just about anyone and they'd tell you it's been the best four-and-a-half weeks of training they've had in a while," Leslie said. "Everybody's excited and kind of chomping at the bit to get back out there and show it."
It'll be an early start in College Station this Saturday as the gun for the men's 8K race goes off at 7 a.m. PT. With a handful of big names on the docket, including No. 17 Middle Tennessee, the race gives the Devils a chance to take on some quality opponents and build on their NCAA Championships resume.
The women's 6K will get going at 7:45 a.m. PT, and though it won't feature any nationally ranked programs, Cal Baptist and Texas are both receiving votes with the former ranked in the top-six of the deep West Region, and the Longhorns holding onto second in the South Central Region.
Live results for the races will be provided by Flash Results, and a full recap of the Sun Devils' day in Texas will be available after the meet at thesundevils.com.
Follow @SunDevilTFXC on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.
The men's 8K and women's 6K races in College Station will be ASU's final tune-up before the squads trek to Beaver country for the Pac-12 Championships.
"It's a good opportunity for us to get a feel of what the Pac-12 meet is going to be like," Leslie said. "There are 280 women in this race and 260 men, so it's going to be important to keep our composure in such a large field with a lot of teams ranked in the top-five of their regions."
The field at the Dale Watts Golf Course will undoubtedly be the deepest the young Devils have faced this season with 18 regionally ranked men's teams and 17 regionally ranked women's teams toeing the line Friday morning.
Both of Leslie's teams are unbeaten so far this season with wins at the Cactus Opener and USD Invitational back in September. It's been all Megan Reniewicki and Daan Haven leading the way for the women's team as they've split top-finishes at both outings. For the men, Ian Kebenei has been the No. 1, but true freshman Vincent Mauri has been on the sophomore's heels in each event.
"I think you could ask just about anyone and they'd tell you it's been the best four-and-a-half weeks of training they've had in a while," Leslie said. "Everybody's excited and kind of chomping at the bit to get back out there and show it."
It'll be an early start in College Station this Saturday as the gun for the men's 8K race goes off at 7 a.m. PT. With a handful of big names on the docket, including No. 17 Middle Tennessee, the race gives the Devils a chance to take on some quality opponents and build on their NCAA Championships resume.
The women's 6K will get going at 7:45 a.m. PT, and though it won't feature any nationally ranked programs, Cal Baptist and Texas are both receiving votes with the former ranked in the top-six of the deep West Region, and the Longhorns holding onto second in the South Central Region.
Live results for the races will be provided by Flash Results, and a full recap of the Sun Devils' day in Texas will be available after the meet at thesundevils.com.
Follow @SunDevilTFXC on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.