EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The IU Indianapolis men's and women's cross country teams will have their final tune-up before the upcoming Horizon League Championships when they compete at the Angel Mounds Invitational on Friday (Oct. 17). 

The men's 8,000m race is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. CT, followed by the women's 6,000m race at 9:50 a.m. 

The Jaguars will compete against a decidedly Midwestern field that includes Austin Peay, Bellarmine, Brescia, Central State, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky, Lipscomb, Morehead State, Murray State, Northern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville, Southern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Transylvania, UT Martin, Vincennes, Western Kentucky and host schools Evansville and Southern Indiana. 

This year marks the last season Angel Mounds will be used for competitive cross country after having hosted multiple NCAA Division II National Championships, along with a number of high school and collegiate meets each season. The course is slated to host the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships later this fall, followed by the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals in November. 

Both the IU Indy men's and women's cross country teams look to leave one last regular season mark this weekend. Head coach Antonio McDaniel's women's squad is paced by veterans Julie Smith, Carina Alanis and Grace Bragg, along with sophomore Ella Colclesser. At the most recent Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 3, Smith led the way in the 5K event with a time of 18:12.9, followed by Bragg, Colclesser, Alanis and Hannah Robbins. Smith owns the team's quickest 6K of the season as well, having run 21:38.3 at the Rumble in the Fort back on Sept. 20. Colclesser, Bragg, Alanis and Robbins also rounded out the team's top five at that event too. 

On the men's side, interim head coach Justin Amburgy's team finished fourth at the Joe Piane Invitational, paced by a group of underclassmen. Sophomore Joey LaPatra led the way with a time of 24:55.3 while redshirt sophomore Luke Shappell was just behind him at 24:55.6. Three other underclassmen filled out the scoring five in Nick Cook, Eli Oetken and Sam Grimes. The previous outing, it was Shappell who led the way, followed by Cook, LaPatra, Riley Nixon and Ashman. 

LaPatra's 24:55.3 8K time at Notre Dame is the team's quickest of the season.

Friday's meet will be a homecoming for a number of Jaguars - namely Nolan King (Evansville Central) of the men's squad and Carson Parks (Reitz Memorial) of the women's team. 

A full recap and results will be posted to IUIndyJags.com following Friday's events.