Butler cross country will send partial squads to the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday.
The meet will kick off with the women's 5,000 meter Blue Race, in which Butler's women usually compete, at 2 p.m. EST. Head coach
Matt Roe has opted instead to run the women in the Gold Race, also a 5K but including a mix of Division I, II and II schools, which will start around 4:15 p.m.
"We would run in the Blue Race if we were 100 percent," Roe said. "We're almost there, but not quite."
The Notre Dame Invite has long welcomed distance powerhouses, with this year being no different. National No. 1 New Mexico, No. 14 North Carolina State, No. 20 Notre Dame, and No. 22 Vanderbilt will all be in the mix for the women's Blue Race, while Butler will face teams such as IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, UW-Milwaukee and Western Michigan in the Gold Race.
The five-mile men's Gold Race, in which Butler's men will run, will start at approximately 5 p.m. The men's Blue Race, also along the five-mile trail through Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course, is scheduled for 2:45.
Roe will not run his varsity squad in the men's race either, instead ensuring that everybody is healthy moving forward. The men will also compete with schools such as Eastern Illinois, University of Illinois-Chicago, Northern Kentucky and Valparaiso, with No. 17 New Mexico, No. 18 Arizona State, and No. 28 Eastern Kentucky remaining in the Blue Race.
"We have a lot of spots on the men's side that are up in the air," he said. "But it's a fast course, and I think we'll be competitive."
The Burke Golf Course is located on the southwest corner of the University of Notre Dame campus and can be accessed off of highway 933 by turning onto Dorr Road and parking in the B lot.
Live stats will be available at http://www.deltatiming.com/results.aspx.
