Terre Haute, Ind. is the next destination for the UW’s cross country teams. It is there that the Husky runners will compete in their most challenging event yet: the Pre-Nationals.

The races are long, the competition is elite and the results are crucial.

The women’s team — holding on to the No. 1 national ranking for the second straight week — hopes to maintain its season’s flawless record. Led by freshman phenom Kendra Schaaf, the Husky women opened the season with an outstanding win at home, then achieved a dominant first place finish at the Tiger Invite in Alabama where they posted a mind-blowing score of 19 points, just four away from running a perfect team score of 15.

Opponents for the women include 11 of the top-30 ranked teams, including No. 4 Minnesota, No. 6 Stanford, No. 9 Michigan State and many more.

The Husky men will also take on a fearsome field, racing against No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Iona, No. 10 Stanford and several other ranked teams.

The men’s team also started out the year with a win and is beginning to gain national respect after its second place finish at the Tiger Invite.

Having flown under the radar this year, the men, led by last year’s team MVP Jon Harding, could legitimize themselves as a top power in the country with a solid performance Saturday.

Expected to run for the men are Harding, Chris Ahl, Alec Bromka, Jeremy Mineau, Jake Schmitt, Jordan Swarthout and Colton Tully-Doyle. Due to the bevy of teams participating in the event, each squad is limited to just seven runners.

The tentative starters for the women are Schaaf, Christine Babcock, Anita Campbell, Kailey Campbell, Katie Follett, Mel Lawrence and Lauren Saylor.

The results of this event are monumental for the Huskies.

Not only is it imperative that they keep up their momentum going into the Conference Championships on Oct. 31, but the course on which they will be running — the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course — is the same course that will host the NCAA Championships Nov. 24.

Success for the Huskies on Saturday could mean big things to come for Washington.

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com.