Cross country fans who can’t wait until Nov. 20 for the NCAA Championships, take heart, Iowa State will host some of the top teams in the nation at the ISU Classic on Saturday.

The meet will be the first event held at the new on-campus cross country course. The new course is located at the corner of Hayward Avenue and Mortensen Road.

The Cyclone women runners, who cracked the national rankings at the 22nd spot, will have stiff competition; No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Colorado and No. 4 Stanford headline a list of nine ranked teams in the field.

“It will be the most competitive meet in the nation, other than the National Championships,” said Dick Lee, ISU’s women’s cross country coach. “We are looking forward to seeing how well we do against teams like Villanova and Colorado.”

Big Eight rivals Kansas State and Missouri join Colorado in the field. Right now second ranked Colorado appears to be the cream of the Big Eight crop.

“If Colorado continues running as they are, there will be no one who can touch them,” Lee said. “But you never know what will happen when the gun goes off.”

The defending national champion ISU men’s squad will also have a tough task in front of them on Saturday. If the 8th ranked Cyclones are to compete for the team crown, they must overthrow the likes of No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Northern Arizona and No. 10 Tennessee.

Men’s coach Bill Bergan is excited about the first meet at the new course.

“To my knowledge there is no other Div. I program in the nation that has its own course dedicated specifically toward cross country and running,” Bergan said. “It is truly a first-class course.”

Individual runners on both squads have already taken medalist honors in early season meets.

Freshman Jana Peterson won the Northern Iowa Open in only her second meet of her collegiate career. That win plus a third-place finish at the Illinois State Invitational propelled her to capture the Big Eight Women’s Runner-of-the-Month for September.

Dmitry Drozdov took first-place honors at the prestigious Minnesota Invitational on Oct. 1. The Minnesota Invitational is the only meet Drozdov has competed in this season.

The senior from Penza, Russia finished 12th at last year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships.