EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Friday, the Purple Aces cross country teams travel to Bloomington, Ind. to run in the Indiana Intercollegiate at the IU Championship Cross Country Course.
 
Beginning with an open race at 3:30 p.m. ET, the women run their 5K at 4:30 p.m. ET before the man take to the course 45 minutes later for their 8K event.
 
"This week will be a strong test for both teams," head coach Don Walters said.  "I should have all of my top women at this race; Kelby (Jenkins) will have some great runners around her and will give everything she has to compete on such a high level"
 
"I look forward to seeing what kind of race Kirsten (Perrey) has, she has really improved this season and is running healthy," Walters continued.  "The men's team will look to improve on their times and continue to compete with success."
 
Jenkins, Perry and the rest of the UE teams were strong in last weekend's Fleet Foot Invitational in Huntsville, Ala.  Jenkins posted her second win of the season and the sixth of her career, running a time of 17:35.  Her effort marked the second-best time in program history behind Andrea Sonnenschein's 17:30.
 
Behind her were a pair of ladies who have been running at their best this season.  Kirsten Perrey set a PR for the second week in a row.  The junior took seventh place overall with a time of 19:01.3  That time was 31 seconds ahead of her former top mark, which was set the week before at Eastern Illinois.  Also setting her top time was Maria Lynn, who ran a 19:13.6 to beat her former mark by 3.17 seconds.
 
The men were led by junior Josh Genet, who has established himself as a force each weekend for the Aces.  Genet finished in third place out of 80 thank to his 25:57.1.  Jon Ashby has been improving each week in his sophomore campaign as he finished in eighth with a 26:37.1.
 
A pair of freshman are also coming into their own at the collegiate level as Ben Woolems and Ross Frondorf had ran better each and every time out on the course.  Woolems posted a 27:15.0 on his way to a finish of 17^th while Frondorf ran his way to a 27:28.1 to register a 20^th-place finish.
 
One of the special aspects of the Indiana Intercollegiate is that every college and university in the state, regardless of size or NCAA affiliation, will be competing in the event.  The races, which last took place at IU two years ago, are expected to feature a total of more than 750 runners.

The Intercollegiates were hosted by Indiana State last season with Jenkins coming in 9th and Genet leading the men with a finish of 18th.
 
In the 2011 meet, Andrew Barrett led the men with a 34^th place out of 169 runners while Kelby Jenkins was 33^rd out of the 169 female runners.