Two weeks after making an impressive showing in Stillwater, Okla., at the Cowboy Jamboree, the Jayhawk cross country team will compete in the NCAA Pre-National Invitational in Indiana on Saturday.

The event will take place at the La Verne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, which will serve as the NCAA Championship course in November.

“It’s a real flat course that’s man-made and has perfect footing,” sophomore Amanda Miller said.

Many of the top-ranked schools are scheduled to compete at Pre-Nationals, including most of the teams from the Big 12 Conference.

Some Kansas runners are excited to compete at this meet against a high level of competition.

“It’s exciting to go up against some good athletes and see how we compare,” redshirt freshman Kara Windisch said.

Windisch said the team was getting more confidence from every workout.

“We’ve gotten better at speeding up from our workouts and getting faster at longer distance,” she said. “We feel a lot stronger going into this race.”

The meet will be the largest meet for the team so far this season.

“There are so many people, you could be one second from your teammate and you don’t know it,” freshman Rebeka Stowe said after talking to some of the experienced runners.

Stowe said she was prepared for this race after having one 6K under her belt.

“Last race, I didn’t know how to run it, because I still had a lot left in me at the end,” she said. “This week I’m hoping to go out quick and get close to (junior Lauren) Bonds and Amanda and close the gap.”

Freshman Sam Bird said he was excited about racing in his home state.

“It’s nice to be at a familiar course,” said Bird, a Columbia City, Ind., native who has run at the course 10 times. “It’s a good course; it can either be a great course or a real bad course. I’ve faired average and I hope to have a good race.”

Another runner hoping to have a good race is sophomore Nick Caprario. Caprario ran a personal best at Pre-Nationals last year and wants to do it again this year.

“For me, it’s exciting to see the caliber of the runners that we’re going up against,” he said.

Junior Lauren Bonds, who has been one of the top runners for the Jayhawks, said she was looking forward to seeing how she and the rest of team compared to some of the top Division I teams in the nation.

“Pre-Nats is a big race,” Bonds said. “This is our chance to make a statement and show everyone that this is not a fluke.”

The women’s 6K races will begin at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men’s 8K races at 12:10 p.m.