The BYU women's cross country team will travel across the country this weekend to compete in the Great American Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday.
The race will be the first opportunity for the fourth-ranked Cougars to match up against some of theteams expected to contend for this year's national title.
Head coach Patrick Shane said, "This race is going to be the first race of the season for many of our athletes. We've got a strong team that should do well but we will be tested."
In addition to No. 4 BYU, No. 9 N.C. State and No. 25 Duke are slated to run in the collegiate race.
"I'm looking forward to running against some top-ranked teams. The field will also consist of some good individuals as well," Shane said.
The race is scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Sept. 21.
BYU last competed on Sept. 8 at the Great Race in San Francisco. Jessie Kindschi, a transfer from South Dakota State, won that event for BYU, leading seven BYU runners who finished among the top ten that day.
The men's and women's teams did not compete last week as a result of circumstances surrounding the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The 15th-ranked BYU men's cross country team will not be in action the second consecutive weekend. The men will take the week off, as previously scheduled, to prepare for what will become their season-opener next Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota.