TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? As many teams from around the country head to Terre Haute on Friday in preparation for the Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday, the Indiana State women's cross country team will be traveling to Peoria, Ill., for the fourth annual Bradley Classic at Newman Golf Course. The race begins at 4:15 p.m. with the men's 8,000 meter and will be followed by the women's 6,000 meter race at 5 p.m.

This is the second trip of the year to Peoria for the Sycamores, as they raced to a second-place finish in the women's 5k race on September 7 at the Bradley Open at Detweiller Park.  ISU finished with 58 points, just 10 points behind race-winner and Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa.

ISU women's head coach John Gartland had to make a difficult decision on where his team would race this weekend, but he believes his choice will be best for his squad.

“It was a very difficult decision for me to not run our team at the Pre-Nationals, especially because we are the host,” said Gartland.  “The main reason we are going to Peoria is that I think it will prepare our team better for the Missouri Valley Conference meet in two weeks than the Pre-Nationals would.”

The race features defending champion Southern Illinois, who placed four runners in the top ten last year, as well as fellow MVC foes Bradley, Northern Iowa, Drake, Illinois State, and Wichita State.  It also features Wisconsin-Green Bay, Western Illinois, Southeast Missouri, St. Louis, Northwestern, Missouri, Iowa State (B Team), Illinois-Chicago, Eastern Illinois and DePaul.

“By no means is this going to be an easy meet,” said Gartland.  “There are 17 teams in the race, including six Valley teams, and every team is going to be very competitive.  The course is an excellent one and will be a very challenging 6k course.  I just hope our team takes this opportunity to focus and prepare for the MVC meet against some of the competition they will be facing in two weeks.”