As the men’s cross country team treks to the western shore of Lake Michigan, coach Corey Ihmels expects his team to pick up the energy.

“I was disappointed with the result,” Ihmels said of last Fridays’ ISU Open. “The effort was there; we just need to keep the intensity up. [Sometimes] you expect things to happen, but you can’t do that. You got to make it happen. I think the guys are ready to get on the road.”

The Midwest Collegiate Open, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, will feature about 20 teams. Ihmels was unsure about which teams would be present.

Ihmels said he is especially excited about fifth-year senior Grant Shadden, who has been plagued by several injuries throughout his career.

“Nobody deserves it more than him,” Ihmels said. “It’s been a while since he’s been 100 percent. He’s ready and he did a great job in his summer work. He really prepared well for the season. [He’s just got to] get out there and get the rust off. I think he’ll do great.”

Shadden said he is ready to go but has to gain favorable position during the race because there are many runners and the course narrows toward the end.

“It gets physical,” Shadden said.

Junior Dan Taylor said this meet is good not only for improving confidence, but should also be “pretty competitive.”

Kyle Rasmussen, who finished fourth at the ISU Open, said he is going to use last week’s high finish as a “little bit” of a confidence builder going into the Kenosha meet.

“Last Friday wasn’t the world championships, but it was a personal record by about two seconds,” Rasmussen said. “I felt good during the race. With about 3K to go, I put on the wheels.”

Rasmussen also said he expects another high finish from himself this weekend.

He said that the men’s team usually goes to the men’s Griak Invitational in Minnesota this weekend. The Griak goes more toward an individual’s quality points that are accumulated for their placing at the conference meet in October, he said.

The Midwest Collegiate Open, despite not having the top-level competition, should be good for the team’s confidence.

“There’s a lot of new guys [on the team],” Rasmussen said. “It’s a good transition for [them] so they know what to expect in the future.”

The women’s cross country team has the weekend off, but head coach Dick Lee said it plans to go to the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis next weekend.