GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  Western Colorado's men's and women's cross country teams will race in the annual Gig Leadbetter Maverick Stampede on Saturday morning at the Lincoln Park Golf Course.

The meet participants, so far, will be host Colorado Mesa University, Western, and very likely members of the CMU triathlon team.

The Mountaineers participated in the 2021 Stampede with the Western men earning the runner-up spot just three points back from CMU, while the women fielded only a pair of Western runners without totaling any team score.

Earlier this season Western hosted the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite with the same two teams vying for bragging rights. The final team scores in both the men's and women's races saw Western in front as the men – buoyed by Simon Kelati's first-place finish – outscored Mesa 23 to 36, and the women triumphed over the Mavericks, 20 to 39, by taking second through sixth place overall.

The Stampede will consist of a men's 8-kilometer race beginning at 9:20 a.m., followed by a women's 5K at 10 a.m.

USTFCCCA POLLS
Both Western and CMU are ranked in the October 4 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Division II regional rankings. The Mountaineer men are fourth in the South Central Region while Mesa is eighth, and in the women's regional rankings it's the Western women at No. 5 and Mesa at No. 9.

The Oct. 5 USTFCCCA D-II national poll sees Western at No. 11 in the men's poll and also No. 11 in the women's rankings.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Mountaineers will split for their next meets as one contingent will head to University Place, Washington, for the NCAA D-II Pre-Nationals meet on Sat., Oct. 22, run on the same course – Chambers Creek Regional Park – as will be the national championship race in early December.

A different group will attend the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Open on Fri., Oct. 21.