The women;s cross country team will be competing in its first and only home meet  with close to 50 teams coming to the Quad Cities to compete in the 35th annual Brissman-Lundeen Invitational at Saukie Golf Course.
The meet will be Augustana’s first and only home meet of the year. Senior-captain Brenna Whisler is excited for the meet.
“We look forward to our home meet every year. It’s a big deal,” she said. “It’s the first meet where we can judge how well we will do for the year.”
One of the things Whisler said was good about Saukie Golf Course was that it gives the runners a flat course that will allow the coaches to see the girls’ true times.
Last weekend’s 6k meet in Grinnell did not display their talent. Mud and hills slowed the girls down.
“The conditions were awful and girls were running almost 2 minutes slower than they usually do,” said Whisler.
However, both Whisler and head coach David Thompson were happy with the sixth place performance.
“I thought the girls did great placing sixth with four teams ahead of us being (nationally)ranked,” Thompson said.
Thompson said his goal before this meet is to make sure that his team controls their emotions and not burn themselves out in the race.
“Lots of family and friends will be in attendance and the girls are amped up to run,” Thompson said. “On a course that you are familiar with, it is important to not come out too fast. With a 6K, going too fast on the first mile will come back to bite you in the end.”
Thompson also said he was excited for the team’s first-year runners making the adjustment to the new distance.
“No matter what state you are from or what level the women are on, they are making the adjustment. I’m excited to see how they handle it,” Thompson said.
The meet will be separated two races for the women’s section of the meet. The bottom 20 teams from last year’s race will start at 3 p.m. The top 20 teams will run at 4:30 p.m.
Whisler is hoping to see lots of members of the Augustana community come out and cheer for the team.
“We would really love to see the Augustana community there. This is our only home meet, and people don’t realize how cool cross country is until they see it,” Whisler said.