One last tuneup and then it’s time to go all out.

The ISU cross country teams will head to La Crosse, Wis., on Saturday for their last meet before the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 28 in Waco, Texas.

The women’s and men’s races will be on the same course, but they will be called the Tori Neubauer Invitational and the Jim Drews Invitational, respectively.

Unlike most other sports, no prior competition is necessary to compete at the conference meet.

“You don’t have to qualify,” said women’s coach Dick Lee.

“It’s like throwing all 12 football teams on the field at one time to let them figure it out. That’s how our sport is. We’ve had in the past [for some athletes that] their first race is the conference meet. How you place in conference is based on that one meet. It’s one day, one meet.”

Junior Jenny Mockler has been fighting illness and injuries all season. She was expected to be one of the leaders this fall, but she will not race this weekend.

Throughout the first three meets of the season, freshman Lisa Koll has been the top performer for the women’s team. Lee said closing the gap among runners one through five is the team’s main priority this weekend.

Improvements have been noticeable from junior Meredith McKean, as well as most of the newcomers, he said.

“Meredith’s been running better week by week while battling some anemia,” Lee said. “The newcomers have been up and down, as expected. Dawn Caffrey, Erin Penticoff and Jessi Wild, as a whole group, have been taking turns from having a good week and weeks where they haven’t raced as well.

“[Junior] Mackenzie Madison has made improvements while also battling anemia at the beginning of the season. She’s getting better and better.”

Approximately 20 teams are expected to compete on the women’s side. Lee anticipates a large number of them to be Division-II and Division-III teams, although a few Division-I teams are anticipated.

The men’s team will face challenges from top-ranked Wisconsin and Minnesota, South Dakota State and Cal-Riverside. The team will also see competition from several ranked Division-II and Division-III teams.

“All around, it’s going to be a pretty good meet,” said men’s coach Corey Ihmels. “This gives us an opportunity to see how we shape up with Minnesota, who’s in our region, and also Wisconsin, ranked number one right now.”

It’s been three weeks since the men’s team raced at the Roy Griak Invitational. Ihmels used that time as an opportunity to train and improve the athletes on the team.

Just as Koll has been a constant for the women’s team, another freshman has done the same for the men’s team: Kiel Uhl of Des Moines.

During the past few weeks, Uhl has remained steady, while junior David Rotich and freshmen Richard Newton, Jory Zunich and John Ricardi have impressed Ihmels.

“David’s been training really well and he’s going to make big steps in the next couple of weeks,” Ihmels said. “Our key is to have Kiel and David up front, [followed by our] three, four, five guys.”

Team members said they know the ensuing meets are each more important than the one before. This weekend’s race is the final one before they lay it all on the line for that one-time meet.

“We’re a lot better than we were three weeks ago,” Ihmels said. “We need to get one more race under out belt and then reassess things and get ready for conference after that.

“This week is important, but two weeks later is even more important. I think our guys understand what we need to do to get there.”