Arizona’s cross country teams showed well against a few Pacific 10 Conference foes at the Dave Murray Invitational a few weeks ago, but now they face some of the best teams in the nation.

The Notre Dame Invitational will be held in South bend, Ind., and will showcase over 20 Division I teams. Arizona head coach James Li said his No. 32-ranked women’s team has the talent to place in the top 10 scoring positions.

“”I think it’s going to be a good test for them,”” Li said, adding that the competition will be incomparably stronger than any meet his team has taken part in thus far.

Led by junior Maggie Callahan, who placed second in the Dave Murray meet, the Wildcats will also seek help from sophomores Hanna Henson and Hannah Moen along with a slew of freshman.

The men’s team has a bleaker outlook.

They will possibly be without top runners Abdi Hassan and Victor Zazueta, who were hit by a flu bug. Li said he did not know what type of flu the teammates had.

Luckily, senior Dylan Fitzpatrick returns to competition after missing the last meet with a minor injury.

On the course, runners will be involved in elbow-to-elbow contact. If the weather holds up, Li said, Notre Dame should be a flat and fast race.

While Arizona’s ‘A’ squads will be shipped to Notre Dame, their remaining runners will travel north to Tempe and race in the ASU Invitational.