The Kansas cross country teams will travel across the border on Saturday to participate in the Missouri Cross Country Challenge.

This is the teams’ second meet, and they will be racing against one of its biggest rivals.

“If there was one team out of the whole conference that we wanted to beat, it would be Missouri,” Olathe sophomore Rebeka Stowe said.

The Jayhawks have something to prove this year.

“We lost to them last year, both at the duel and at conference,” said Shawnee senior Bret Imgrund, “So we are hoping to get back on track.”

Last year Hutchinson senior Lauren Bonds won the women’s race, but the men and women lost to Missouri by 11 points. This is only the Challenge’s second year, so a win in Missouri would even the score in the Border War.

Kansas will be try to draw from the two previous years, when they beat Missouri in conference.

This meet will be more than a rival matchup. Missouri is hosting the Big 12 Championship this year.

“That’s our main reason for going back — to get a look at the course, to get a feel for it so that it won’t be brand new to us again come conference,” Imgrund said.

After not running in last weekend’s meet, Bonds and Overland Park junior Amanda Miller will be returning for the Missouri meet, which will give the women something to focus on.

“The tighter pack we can get the better we can do,” Stowe said. “We are going to try to get as many girls as close to Bonds as we can.”

This technique along with the competitive nature of the team will fuel the fire between the rival schools.

Apparently, heckling isn’t just common for football and basketball. Stowe said that Missouri fans yelled at the men’s team at last year’s meet.

“It’s kind of fun,” Stowe said. “It kind of gets a little edge under your skin.”

— — Edited by Lauren Cunningham