PEORIA, Ill. ? After strong showings by both the Bradley men's and women's cross country teams at the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 23 in Minneapolis, the running squads will host the third annual Bradley Classic Friday evening at Newman Golf Course. As the 2006 Cross Country season moves toward the conference championships, this year's Classic should again prove to be a great final tune-up for the 12 participating schools.

The women's 6,000-meter individual race should be a battle between Drake's Ashley Anklam, back to defend her 2005 Classic title, and Windsor's Jackie Malette. Also looking to make the break with the lead pack will be Bradley's Rachel Brubaker and Sarah Westrick, DePaul's Carrie Moffett, Illinois State's Betsy McDonald and Suzy Turner, Illinois-Chicago's Laura Macias, and Western Illinois' Beth Whalen. The women's team title should prove to be a wide open battle with Illinois State, Drake, Windsor, UIC and Bradley among the possible favorites.

The Men's 8,000-meter individual race also has its fair share of title contenders. DePaul's Sean Conroy, Eastern Illinois' Dave Carlson, UIC's Gabriel Ngwiri, and Windsor's Deng Marial and Andrew Coates should face a challenge from a strong group of potential All-Missouri Valley Conference contenders in Bradley's Chris George, Drake's Josh McClain and Skylar Nesheim and Illinois State's Jordan Anderson and Mike Richardson. The men's team title should see the other eight teams chasing favorites DePaul, Drake, UIC and Windsor.

The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action October 28, when they take part in the 2006 State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship in Lincoln, Neb.