EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Six regular-season races await the University of Evansville cross country squads as they are amidst their preparations for the 2013 campaign.
 
Both teams enjoyed great success last season and look to build on that heading into 2013.  Paced by Kelby Jenkins, the women's team won a pair of team events (Tennessee Tech Invitational and UE Invitational) while the men were also victorious at Tennessee Tech.
 
"Every meet that we have on the schedule will have ranked teams entered. This is one of the most competitive schedules I have ever put together," head coach Don Walters said.  "We have been getting better every year and now we are invited because of the competition. I have turned down invitations from Furhman University, TN, Vanderbilt, and others schools with ranked programs."
 
"If we can stay healthy this will be one of the most exciting seasons in school history," Walters added.
 
The season officially opens on August 31 with the Mid-America Opener set to take place at the UE Cross Country Course.  Last season, both UE teams took second place in the event.  Evansville takes to the road for the first time a week later, running in the Eastern Illinois Invitational on Sept. 6 in Charleston, Ill.
 
Third up for the Aces will be a trip to Huntsville, Alabama for the Fleet Foot Invitational.  The University of Alabama in Huntsville will play host to the event on Sept. 14.  The next two races will be the largest events of the season for UE, beginning on Sept. 20 with the Indiana Intercollegiate in Bloomington.  In the 2012 race, both teams performed very well with the women taking seventh out of 26 teams while the men posted a 9^th place finish out of 27 schools.
 
On Oct. 5, Evansville will make the trek to Louisville for the Greater Louisville Classic.  Both the men's and women's teams faced over 300 runners in each race of the event last season with the women taking 11^th in the Blue race (out of 43 teams) while the men placed 13^th out of 46.  The annual UE Invitational completes the regular season, beginning at 11 a.m. on Oct. 19.
 
The MVC Championships will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 2 with the NCAA Districts slated to take place in Madison, Wisc. on Nov. 15 and the NCAA Championship will be eight days later in nearby Terre Haute.
 
Evansville's men and women each have solid goals heading into 2013, led on the women's side by Kelby Jenkins.  Jenkins won four races a season ago and capped off her junior season by breaking UE's 6K mark at the NCAA's by running a 21:11.  The previous best time for the Aces was a 22:02 set by Andrea Sonnenschein.  She recorded finishes of seventh or better in all but one race.
 
Last season, Cody Stein was the top student-athlete for the men as he took the win at Tennessee Tech and registered three other top six finishes.  Taking his spot at the head of the team looks to be junior Josh Genet.  As a sophomore, Genet took top honors in the UE Invitational before leading the Aces with a PR at the MVC Championships as his 24:58 was good for 12^th place.