DENVER – After a three-week break from competition, the MSU Denver cross country teams are back in action Saturday, hosting the Roadrunners Invitational at Washington Park.
 
The 6-kilometer women's race starts at 9:30 a.m., with the 8K men's race to follow at 10:15.
 
"It's always a lot of fun with our home meet because you have your family, your friends, professors, people you know out there cheering for you," MSU Denver senior Sam Berg said. "We'll be using that extra motivation."
 
With Berg rounding back into form after rehabbing from injury for most of the summer, he'll join Jake Link in helping the Roadrunners' men's team in their bid for the title. Meanwhile, Alden Gruidel, who won three weeks ago at the Colorado College Invitational, will spearhead the women's team's attempt to win.
 
"I really would like to win the meet, and I think it's definitely possible," MSU Denver coach Nicholas Lara said. "We've talked every day this week about protecting our home course. We know the course better than anybody."
 
NCAA Division II teams in the meet include Chadron State, Colorado Mesa, CSU-Pueblo, Regis, the UCCS women and Slippery Rock (Pa.). A number of clubs, as well as some smaller schools, are competing, as are runners from Colorado (men's and women's) and Wyoming (women).
 
"It's a pretty good field," Lara said. "Maybe it's not the top echelon, but there are some good teams here with Colorado and Wyoming bringing some of their kids. It's interesting to see that Slippery Rock is coming here. Hopefully we can start bringing in more teams from the East Coast, the Midwest and the West Coast in the future."
 
The MSU Denver teams are headed next weekend to a meet hosted by Lewis (Ill.) that will feature many top national teams. So while the Roadrunners are shooting for wins Saturday, they also want to stay fresh for next week.
 
"The big goal for us as a group is that we want to win the team race," Berg said. "But we've also got our eyes set on next weekend when we go to Chicago and we're going to be facing some really good, nationally-ranked teams. This weekend we're going to be on our home course. We want to put together a great effort. And we want that team trophy."
 
How do you balance that?
 
"We just want to run as fast as we possibly can without overexerting ourselves," Berg said. "We'll definitely keep that in mind during the later stages of the race. If we're in good position and we don't need to hit the gas, we might slam on the brakes a little bit."
 
Berg hopes to be in the mix in the individual race, and if so his tag-team partner, Jacob Link, will probably running stride for stride with him.
 
"He's a really good training partner," Berg said. "We work well together, bounce ideas off each other. It's a good feeling when you have a teammate in the race with you working together. I'll be keeping an eye out for him, and obviously we both want to get to the (finish) line as quickly as possible."
 
Lara is excited to see what a healthy Berg might be able to do Saturday.
 
"Sam has looked really good this week," he said. "I've seen a whole different side of him. He's been a lot more tenacious and aggressive. I'd keep an eye on him."
 
Last year in the Roadrunner Invitational, Link finished 10^th and Berg 11^th overall, though among collegiate runners they were fifth and sixth, respectively.
 
"I'm not at quite the same fitness level as Jake is right now, but I'd still love to get the 'W' on our home course in front of friends and family," Berg said. "But if he gets first, I'm not going to be too sad about it because he's scoring one point for our team."
 
On the women's side, Gruidel is seeking a second straight win.
 
"The little blonde rocket wants to continue her winning ways," Lara said. "From here on out, she wants to be a top-five finisher in every single race she touches. She's in the mindset."