Cross Country Set For Lakefront Invite

CHICAGO – DePaul cross country returns to competition with the opportunity to race in front of a home crowd during the Sean Earl Collegiate Invitational as part of the 42^nd Loyola Lakefront Invite at Montrose Beach in Chicago.

Stretching over two days, the meet will see DePaul compete in the Maroon Division with the women's 5K starting at 10:50 a.m. followed by the men's 8K at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday.

The 5K and 8K races will take place in Lincoln Park at Grove 16 of Montrose Harbor, near the intersections of West Montrose Ave. and North Simonds Dr.

"It's always good to allow our kids to compete in a familiar place," said associate head coach Derrick Peterson. "Even though we have familiar meets throughout our season, there's nothing like racing in a place that they run every day. Seeing loved ones, including the DePaul community, support us along the lakefront allows our athletes to shine."

This will be one of the first meets where the men's and women's squads compete will full teams. While the women's team will be focusing on making sure the finishing spread is as low as possible, the men's team will be utilizing a different strategy.

Prior to Saturday, various competitors on the men's team had been rested but noted exciting performances from Noah Deck and Charlie McIntyre. Last season, Deck led the Blue Demons with a time of 25:20.11 to finish 52^nd in a group of 349 high-level racers.

Saturday's races will see teams that the squads are familiar with, including host Loyola, UIC, NIU and BIG EAST rival Marquette.

"I love seeing our conference teams early on. It allows us to see what they're looking like at the present. Our kids get pretty excited when Marquette shows up," said Peterson. "This season, we will have seen them more before the conference meet than ever before – we'll be seeing them next week as well."

The women's squad is excited to continue the gains they've seen leading up to the meet. Running at high-levels this season, Courtney Pickering, Olivia Borowiak and Violet Harper have come away with strong finishes. Borowiak led at the season opener, Harper followed at the Badger Invite and Pickering led the women at the ISU Cross Country invitational two weeks ago. In addition to the noted strong performances, the women's roster will see Jessica Harris, Alexa Havon and Maret Elgren lace up for competition.

Admission to the event is free of charge. Due to the large number of participating teams and limited parking, fans are encouraged to utilize public transportation. Dedicated drop off locations will be marked for ride sharing services. Montrose Beach can be accessed via the Wilson red line CTA stop and via the #36 and #151 CTA buses.

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Borowiak

Noah Deck

Maret Elgren

Violet Harper

Jessica Harris

Alexa Havon

Charlie McIntyre

Courtney Pickering

DePaul University Athletics