FAYETTE, Mo. - Central Methodist's cross country teams open the season Saturday in the Eagle Invitational on the team's home course at Fayette Golf Course.

This is the first year for the Eagle Invitational. Central Methodist hosts the annual Gary Stoner Invitational on October 12.

"This meet will be an early chance to see how we stack up against other conference competition," coach Chris Sandefur said. "It's also a chance for some of our freshmen to make their debut in a Central Methodist jersey and see how competitive college cross country is."

The women's team will send nine runners to the starting line Saturday morning for the 3.6K race. Emily Nealley, Elise Schreiber, Hailey Breusch, Adriana Romero, Megan Greener, Rachel Howieson, Kaitlyn Karney, Allyson Ng and Kaitlyn Loeffler make up the squad.

In the men's 5K race, the Eagles will send 15 runners out on the course. Ryan Farrell leads the squad into the first meet of the year, with Alan Adams, Jasper Bunton, Brennan Cape, Brett Davis, Ryan Dickson, Ryan Farrell, Zach Feurt, Doug Hutcherson, Austin Jones, Gage Lemmon, Tyler Meierarend, Luke Pelton, Joe Redden, Cris Renteria and Dakota Shoemaker making up the unit.

The women's race is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT with the men's race set for approximately 9:30 a.m.