When the Ohio men's and women's cross country teams run in the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, they will take part in what cross country Head Coach Elmore Banton dubs a "mini-NCAA" meet.

The meet will give both Ohio teams a look at some of the nation's best squads.

Top teams are competing at the meet because the course in Bloomington is the site of the NCAA Championships this year.

Banton said both the men's and women's races should contain eight to 12 teams ranked in the top 30 in the nation.

The race could be vital to helping the women's team reach its goal of making it to the NCAA Championships as a team, Banton said. The top two teams from each district advance to Bloomington, then 16 other teams are selected as at-large bids to compete.

Banton said at-large bids are determined by a team's performance against other teams that are already guaranteed berths in the NCAA field.

"It's an important race for us because we're trying to get to nationals," he said.

Saturday, the women will go up against Arkansas, possibly the top team in the nation, Banton said. Michigan, Yale, Northwestern, Western Kentucky, New Hampshire and Coastal Carolina, all which have strong women's cross country programs, will also be at the meet. Kent will be the only other Mid-American Conference team participating in the race.

Banton said the Ohio women's team was ranked 30th in the preseason polls, but it will slip out of the top 30 when the first in-season poll comes out next week.

"We were looking forward to this meet this summer," Banton said. "But, considering where we've been running, we've really got to step it up."

Banton said the Bobcats have the potential to finish in the top 10 in the tournament, despite the stiff competition.

"We can place in the top eight out of 23 teams," Banton said. "I don't know whether we can do that or not right now."

Banton said the team still is not competing at 100 percent because runner Heather Halderman is not ready to run, and top runner Jackie Conrad is not in prime condition.

"I wish we were fully loaded and ready to go," he said.

Ohio runner Carrie Smith said the Bobcats plan to run as a team and work together against the strong competition.

"We've just got to go out and stay together," Smith said. "There will be a lot of good competition. We just want to go out and run well against the increased competition."

Conrad and Melissa Converse faced this type of talent before. Both competed in last year's NCAA Championships. Banton said the pair could both place in the top 10 runners at the meet. He also said there should be eight to 10 All-Americans present for the women's race.

"This will be a good race for (Conrad) and (Converse)," he said. "They are the only ones used to this competition and used to a race of this magnitude. They're going to have to be our leaders. The other young kids are going to have to step up and run well."

The men's team will have to go up against top teams such as Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and Navy, and MAC teams Eastern Michigan and Kent.

"The men's race might be even worse (then the women's race)," Banton said. "There are even more teams in the top 30."

Banton said the level of competition in the race should provide an enjoyable experience for cross country fans.

"It'll be a great race for spectators," he said. "If I didn't have a team there, I would love to watch this race."

Banton said the team might have trouble during the race because captain Chris Cave has not felt well this week.

"Cave being sick will have an affect," he said. "But you never know, he could still do well."

With the team's top runner weakened, Banton said the team will try to run together.

"We're going to go out and try to run together as a pack, and just run through the race without worrying about where we are at," Banton said. "We're going to work together and get some experience against some great teams. If we get stronger as a team we will get better."

Ohio runner Justin Kempe said the Bobcats will try to learn from their experience during the race.

"I expect us to have a good trip and get a little more experience for later on in the season," Kempe said. "We are doing real well improving. That's our number one goal right now."

The men's race starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. The women's race kicks off at 11:15 a.m.