More than 500 athletes representing 27 teams will compete in this year's races along with several unattached competitors. This marks the Bearkats first trip to the Twilight Classic.

"We wanted to do something different this year and go to a larger meet than we typically do," cross country coach Jesse Parker said. "This is one of the largest meets in the Southeast and we're excited about having an opportunity to compete."

The meet will mark the first time this season the Bearkats will run their entire team.

After being held out of the first meet of the year, sophomore Kylie Fitzgerald and senior Molly Farrell will compete for the women's team as freshmen Ryan Saam and junior Matt Stephenson will run for the men.

This will be the Bearkats first competition since the Morriss Invitational Sept.3. Sam Houston's scheduled competition at Texas A&M two weeks ago was canceled due to adverse weather conditions.

"Training has been going very well the past few weeks and we are a bit healthier right now than we have been at this point in previous years. That is encouraging," Parker said. "We were hoping the women would have had a chance to race a 5k and the men an 8k prior to Memphis, but I think we are as ready as we could be at this point in the season. I know the athletes are excited about this opportunity."

The women's race begins at 8:20 p.m. Saturday and the men race at 9:00 p.m. Look for post meet updates and pictures at the Sam Houston State University Track & Field / Cross Country fan page on Facebook.