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Cross country teams run into the San Francisco Bay area

The No. 1 runner on the University of Arizona men's cross country team, senior Micheil Jones, will be making his homecoming this Saturday as the Wildcat men and women take part in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

Jones, who hails from Livermore, Calif., won his first career race on Sept. 18 at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

"I'm excited. I'm from that area and my family and friends are going to be there," Jones said. "I'm also really excited because Stanford is one of the top teams, and I'm curious to see how we are going to do. We haven't been to a major competition so it's hard to tell how well we'll do."

The last time Jones returned to his roots, he ran the 5,000-meter race at 13 minutes and 52.46 seconds at the Cardinal Invitational during the 1999 track and field season.

Stanford looks to be the toughest competition for the Wildcat men as they are ranked No. 2 in the nation, while UA is ranked No. 7 in this week's MONDO Cross Country poll.

The UA women will have a much more difficult time handling their competition, though.

"This is definitely going to one of the best meets of the year, there will be a lot of formidable competition to go up against," UA head coach Dave Murray said.

Competing against the UA women, who are ranked No. 16 in this week's Finish Lynx poll, will be No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 4 Brigham Young, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 8 Kansas State and No. 10 Washington.

Participating in tomorrow's meet for the men will be Jones, junior David Lopez, sophomores Steve Smith, Rick Weis and Tom Prindiville, seniors Jeremy Lyon and Brent Pederson as well as freshman Wade Juntunen.

"It's Stanford's home course so I am anxious to see how the men will compete against them," Murray said.

Sophomore Tara Chaplin, who also won her first career meet at the Aztec Invitational, will lead the way for the women. Behind her will be seniors Kristin Parrish and Maia Wright, junior Katrin Engelen, sophomores Erin Doherty and Jennifer Burris as well as freshmen Kimberly Bates and Mandee Ash.