CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's and women's cross country teams close out the 2016 regular season as the they host the Choctaw Open on Saturday, Oct. 15.
 
With approximately 400 combined runners listed to compete, this season's Choctaw Open stands to be one of the largest in school history.
 
"This will be the largest Choctaw Open collegiate field we've had," said head coach Butch Ard. "There are 25 teams scheduled to compete. The women's 5k is at 8:30am with 170 runners, and the men's 8k is at 9:15am with 200 runners scheduled to compete.  It should be a great morning."
 
Schools set to compete are Alcorn State, Belhaven, Blue Mountain, Grambling, Jackson State, Louisiana College, Millsaps, Mississippi Valley State, Mobile, New Orleans, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Rhodes, Rust, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern, Spring Hill, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Union, William Carey, Williams Baptist and Xavier-Louisiana.
 
The Choctaws finished second among the non-Division I programs during the Watson Ford Invite last weekend. MC placed all five of its runners in the top 30, including three in the top 10 headlined by Ryan Campbell in sixth with a time of 26:34.15 while Will Young was seventh with a time of 26:37.05. Sam Darnall rounded out the trio in the top 10 as he finished ninth with a time of 26:44.31. Ryan Crandall added a 16th place finish with a 27:30.59 while Daniel Burnett was 28th with a 28:38.22.
 
The Lady Choctaws finished fourth among non-Division I teams at the 15th annual Watson Ford Invitational at Choctaw Trails. The Lady Choctaws recorded a total of 82 points with an average time of 25:10.12.
 
A total of five runners finished within the top 25 for MC led by Kaleigh Akers with a 14th place finish among the non-DI field. Akers posted a time of 24:56.59. Abbie Easter added a 17th place finish with a time of 25:02.48 and Hannah Chamberlain in 19th with a 25:08.75.
 
Baylee Webb posted a time of 25:12.70 in 21st for the Navy and Gold and was followed by Rachel Smith in 24th with a time of 25:30.07.
 
Following the home meet, Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 22 as it travels to Huntsville, Ala., for the Gulf South Conference Championships.