LARAMIE, Wyo. – This Friday, the Cowboy cross country team will have a chance to prove itself among a talented field of 17 teams in the Blue Division of the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The men's five-mile race begins at 11:45 a.m. (MT) and will feature a pair of nationally-ranked teams.

"We've had a really good block of training after the home meet in Cheyenne," said men's cross country coach Scott Dahlberg. "We've had a chance to train hard, and the guys are hungry to compete right now. There will be a few teams there we have on our radar to beat in preparation for our next meet at Pre-Nationals."

In the Cowboys' season-opener, junior Paul Roberts won the Wyoming Invitational, completing the five-kilometer course in 15 minutes, eight seconds. Roberts led the Cowboys to a second-place finish, upsetting a pair of teams then ranked No. 7 and No. 16 in Colorado and Air Force, respectively.

Juniors Christopher Henry and Harry Ewing finished fifth and 10^th with times of 15:28 and 15:41, respectively, while senior Michael Downey finished in 15:45 to place 14^th, and sophomore Jerald Taylor finished 16^th in 15:50 to round out Wyoming's scorers.

Wyoming's top five finishers from the Wyoming Invite are all scheduled to compete, as are seniors Ricky Faure, Jonah Henry and Calum Kepler and junior Daniel Hintz.

Sixteen other teams will join Wyoming in the Blue Division at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, including No. 2 BYU and No. 28 Furman.

Admission to the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational is free, and a course map is available at GoWyo.com.