The Cyclone cross country team makes its return to competition this weekend for the first time since the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 26. The team travels to Peoria, Ill., to compete in the Bradley Classic, followed by a trip straight to Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday.

Despite the long break between competition, head coach Corey Ihmels isn’t convinced all this time off has been a bad thing for the team.

“I think [the break] has been a positive,” Ihmels said. “We’ve had an opportunity to get back to training and I think we’re a better team than we were three weeks ago.”

The Cyclone men finished strong at last year’s Bradley Classic by placing their top five runners in the top five, earning a perfect score of 15 points. The men then went on to place 10th overall in the 40-team field at last year’s Pre-Nationals.

Graduate Kiel Uhl led the Cyclone men by placing 10th overall with a time of 23:43. Senior Guor Marial finished 13th overall, just five seconds off Uhl’s pace.

On the women’s side, the Cyclones won the Bradley Classic with 51 points, beating out the University of Northern Iowa by 43 points. Sophomores Dani Stack and Meaghan Nelson led the Cyclone women by placing fourth and fifth, respectively, just one second apart.

This year, both the Cyclone men and women head into this weekend’s events nationally ranked, according the most recent poll released by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. With returning seniors Lisa Koll and Grace Kemmey, both of whom redshirted last season, the women are ranked seventh in the nation and first in the Midwest region. The men are ranked 18th in the nation and second in the Midwest region.

“I’ve been looking forward to this year,” Kemmey said. “That’s the reason why I redshirted [last year]. I know we’re going to do really great as a team.”

Preparation has been a key component to the Cyclones’ recent string of success, and with the long break between meets, they can only look to thrive off of this opportunity.

“Since Griak, we’ve stepped up our tempo runs to a lot of longer workouts that are getting us that race pace to really get a feel for what our races are going to be like,” said senior Paige Ties, who finished seventh at last year’s Bradley Classic. “Hopefully it will better us this weekend.”

The Bradley Classic begins at 4 p.m., followed by Pre-Nationals Saturday with the men’s race at 11 a.m. and the women’s race at 12:20 p.m.

“We finally get to race against people of our caliber and really show where we belong in our rankings,” Ties said. “So I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us.”