Week 4 'Meet o' Week': Evansville

Updated Friday: Ok, I think I've got my weeks straight. The Mountaineer Open is this week, not last week.

But Abilene Christian's low-key presence at Missouri Southern threw me for a loop. We'll know more about that seemingly mysterious squad after this weekend's Pre-Nationals meet in Evansville, Ind. If the course is what I recall, it's flat, followed by killer hills, followed by flat. And great for spectators.

Assuming the Genuine Abilene Christian shows up (again, they're on the start list and their sports information department released this), these are the other teams and individuals in the mix:

• Daniel Kirwa (Harding) brings his high-octane self, along with the No. 24 Bison
• No. 9 Southern Indiana will compete for the second time this season. Their rathe large squad will run for the second time on their home course.
• No. 12 Stone Hill -- the top-ranked squad from the East Region -- will race on a course I suspect they'll return to in November.
• Clayton State (No. 3 Souteast Region) will look to surprised some ranked opponents.

The main story here, I'm guessing, is who, if anybody, from Abilene can challenge Kirwa. That's most likely Amos Sang or Cleophas Tanui. If I had money to bet, I'd put it on Kirwa. He'll also gain some nice experience that will come in handy Nov. 21.

Elsewhere:

• The sagebrush could be dusted with snow in Gunnison, Colo., where No. 1 Adams State will tangle with No. 2 Western State. These two race each other so often (as spelled out in a Running Times article), that not every meet can rise to the "Meet o' Week."
• No. 3 Chico State travels to No. 3 (D1) Stanford. This will be a good indication of where Elam, Rodgers & Co. are at, as the field includes a couple of other ranked D1 schools.
• No. 6 Queens and Michael Crouch won't be challenged at the Conference Carolinas meet. (Note: NOT! It's next month, dude.)
• No. 10 Edinboro host a small home meet.

No. 4 Grand Valley State, No. 7 Colorado Mines, No. 8 Western Washington are idle.

Contour: Due to the sheer number of meets, I'm tracking the whereabouts of our top 10, as determined by the USTFCCCA. If there's another meet that should be a "cracker" (British for kick-butt), please inform me.