The Montana State men's and women's cross country teams will participate in the 2010 Pre-National Invitational hosted by Indiana State on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Bobcat men's team will compete in the 8-kilometer 'Blue Race' at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center at 10:10 a.m. (MDT). The Blue Race field includes No. 1 Stanford, along with #5 Northern Arizona, #12 Princeton, #15 Florida State, #18 Iona, #20 Michigan State, #26 UCLA, #27 William & Mary, and #31 North Carolina.

The Bobcat men are currently ranked 36th in the most recent NCAA Division I poll.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “This is our one chance to make a case for ourselves to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. If we can beat some ranked teams- ones that might receive an NCAA automatic bid- it would really bode well for us as we look to secure one of 13 at-large bids in November.”

Junior Patrick Casey (Laurel) will pace the Bobcats on Saturday morning. Casey won individual titles in his two races this fall. He will be followed closely by Nick Atwood and the rest of the MSU pack attack.

“We need to be healthy and have everyone go out harder than they're normally accustomed to,” Kennedy said. “You don't want to get blocked in the back because it's such a battle to work your way forward.

“If we can get our frontrunners in the top 20-30 and have a 40-second split between our No. 1-5 guys, we should be able to compete very well,” Kennedy said.

The MSU women's squad will run in the 6-kilometer 'White Race' at 9:35 a.m. The White Race will feature #5 Georgetown, #9 Colorado, #17 Stanford, #19 Michigan, #23 North Carolina State, #26 Minnesota and #27 Florida.

“The women's team will face a different situation then our men,” Kennedy said. “I think this meet will really go along ways in preparing us for the Big Sky championship. We will be racing against a large field and at a longer distance. This is a great opportunity and important for our future.”

The Bobcats have been led by two different runners in its previous races. Junior Rebecca Sorenson is coming off a strong showing at the Montana Invitational two weeks ago, while a pair of freshmen (Heather Demorest and Keely West) paced the Bobcats at the MSU Invite.

“We'll have to go out at a faster pace,” Kennedy said. “This race will be more mentally challenging with the size of the field and length of the race. We'll need a small pack with a 30-second split.”

Other Big Sky schools running in the six different races at the Pre-National Invitational include Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, Montana and Weber State.