CARMEL, Ind. - The IUPUI Athletics Department will host the 2021 Horizon League Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships this weekend as teams will converge on Northview Church in Carmel on Saturday (Oct. 30), vying for league titles. It marks the second time IUPUI will host the league championships in less than a calendar year as the previous cross country championships were run at Northview in March 2021.

On Saturday, the men's 8K race will begin at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women's 6K at noon. Awards will begin at 12:45 p.m.. 

Head coach Chuck Koeppen's men's team is seeking a third straight title while head coach Antonio McDaniel's women's team finished third last year. 

The IUPUI men's team has been strong all season long as Nate Kaiser has collected three Men's Runner of the Week Awards and three other individuals - Grant Moon, Mitchell Rans and Keith Bye - have earned Freshman of the Week honors. The Jaguars return five all-league performers from a season ago in Mitchell Gits, Alex Ratkovich, Nick Perkins, Eric Petersen and Kaiser. Gits was the league's Freshman of the Year by virtue of his third-place finish and joined on the first team by Ratkovich and Perkins. Kaiser and Petersen both finished among the top 14 in earning second team honors last season. The Jaguars will rely upon their depth as Eric Hoffman, Moon and Rans have all been among the team's top seven at different points in the season. 

Kaiser reset IUPUI's 8K record at the Bradley 'Pink' Classic on Oct. 15 by spinning a time of 24:06.5 while Perkins also went under the previous school record at 24:13.2. 

The Jaguars ranked No. 11 in the most recent USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional polls, released on Oct. 18. 

On the women's side, a season that began with high hopes has been decimated by injuries. IUPUI returned its core from last year's third-place squad, keyed by a sophomore class of Ellie Cates, Madison Fry, Sophie Reichard, Hannah Sale and Makenna Sunbury. Of that quintet, all but Fry have missed time due to injury. 

Senior Sabrina Elder has had a strong cross country campaign at the top of the team's lineup while freshman Laci Provenzano has provided a solid top five presence. Beyond that group, Kara Krol, Alexandra Schwartz and Sophia Taylor have been fixtures among the IUPUI lineup all season long. 

Sale owns IUPUI's quickest 6K of the year, having run 22:40.9 at Northview at the Jaguar Classic back on Sept. 10. Fry is coming off a personal best 6K time of 22:43.7 at the Bradley 'Pink' Classic and Cates ran 22:48.1 back on Sept. 10. 

A full recap, results and photos from Saturday's action will be posted to IUPUIJags.com immediately afterwards.