The Iowa State women’s cross country team will start its season by traveling to Iowa City on Friday for the Hawkeye Invitational. The Cyclones will face Illinois State, Iowa Central, Drake and Northern Iowa at the Ashton Cross Country Course at 6 p.m.

Iowa State men’s and women’s cross country teams have earned the No. 1 preseason ranking for the sixth straight time.

In the fall of 2017, the Cyclones had some impressive meet finishes on their way to a top-20 finish. Last year in September, the Cyclones visited Minnesota and came in second place. In October during the Big 12 championship, Iowa State came in first place.

Closing out last year, the Cyclones also got first place in the NCAA Midwest Regional and finished in twentieth place in the NCAA championship. The Cyclones are looking to maintain their momentum through the end of the last season to continue in this new season.

Leading the Cyclones will be 2017 All-Region trio of senior Anne Frisbie and sophomores Cailie Logue and Amanda Vestri, who are both coming off of representing Team USA on the track at the 2018 U-20 World Championships.

Other returning runners include sophomore Karly Ackley and senior Kelly Naumann, both who scored for Iowa State last season at the Midwest Regional meet.

Amy Rudolph is the new coach of the Iowa State cross country women’s team after joining the team from Drake. Rudolph is inheriting an already strong team which brought home the Big 12 Cross Country and NCAA Midwest Region titles at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The Cyclones next invitational will be on Sept. 28 at Madison, Wisconsin.