MACOMB, Ill.  -  The Western Illinois men's and women's cross country teams will head to Springfield, Mo. to compete at the 2009 NCAA Midwest Region Championships, Saturday, Nov. 14, hosted by Missouri State. The men's 10K race will be held at noon and the women's 6K event will follow.

The competition will boast the best teams and individuals across the Midwest among 10 different conferences (Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference-USA, Horizon League, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Summit League and one D-I Independent). The race will feature 33 Division I schools from nine different states and several nationally ranked schools, Oklahoma State (No. 2), Oklahoma (No. 18) on the men's side and Illinois (No. 13) on the women's, among others.

"To move forward this is the competition that you're going to have to go up against," said Western Illinois cross country coach Matt Morris. "This is a great opportunity because it's something that a lot of our kids haven't been through before, especially on the women's side."

The Fighting Leatherneck men are led by seniors Eric Anerino and Jeremy Whitaker and junior Tyler Buckles, who finished in a team-best 18th place at The Summit League Championships on Oct. 31. Others competing for men are Derek Gibb, Jared Schmidt, Luke Miller and Chase Marlow.

"The guys are well prepared for the 10K," said Morris. "As a school we've never finished better than 19th. If they do well we could have a good chance to improve on that."

The Leatherneck women are paced by junior Carianna Cottone, who placed 10th at The Summit League Championships and garnered second team all-league honors. Others women running for the Leathernecks are Josie Parker, Chelsea Lyons, Alycia Thurston and Amanda Darnell.

"Individually, if Carianna does well she could be in the mix to get an at-large berth (to nationals)," said Morris. "That's something that no one has done here in a very long time."

The regional championship (one of nine nationwide) serves as the first round of the NCAA Cross Country Championships, awarding automatic national championship berths to the top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team. Additional teams and runners are chosen through an at-large process following the regional event.

Fans can sign up for live text messages after each kilometer of the race by clicking here.

For more information on the NCAA Midwest Region Championships click here.