CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College cross country teams return to Choctaw Trails on Friday, Oct. 7 as they host the 15th annual Watson Ford Invitational. The women's 6K race is set for 4:30 p.m. with the men's 8K run at 5:15 p.m.
 
"We are excited to host the Watson Ford Cross Country Invitational again this year. This meet continues to be one the largest meets in the South," said head coach Butch Ard.  "The college meet will be exciting as usual with Division I and Non-Division I teams. We have a large number of non-Division I, competitive schools that includes a couple of our GSC opponents."
 
Teams participating in the meet with MC include Alcorn State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Birmingham Southern, Blue Mountain, Grambling, Jackson State, Lane, LeMoyne-Owen, LeTourneau, Loyola-New Orleans, LSU-Shreveport, Miles, Millsaps, Mississippi Valley State, New Orleans, Nicholls State, North Alabama, Rust, Southern University, Texas-Tyler, West Alabama, Wiley and Xavier-Louisiana.
 
The Choctaws placed fifth at the UAH Invite last weekend with a total of 112 points. Ryan Campbell led the Navy and Gold with an 8K time of 26:25 as he placed 11th among 121 participants. The time marked a season-best for the Coldwater, Miss., native. Will Young and Sam Darnall joined Campbell in the top 20 of the field. Young posted a time of 26:48.88 in 18th while Darnall finished 20th with a time of 26:49.67.
 
The Lady Choctaws finished seventh at the UAH Invite with 162 points. Kaleigh Akers finished 13th among a field of 123 participants. The Daphne, Ala., product recorded a collegiate best time of 19:35 to lead MC. Abbie Easter finished 29th with a time of 20:03.13 while Rachel Smith was 36th with a time of 20:16.11 to round out the top three finishers for the Navy and Gold.
 
"We've been running well each week and I feel we are prepared to place well in both the men's and women's races," said Ard. "Our men's team is coming together as a group and put in a good race last time out. Hopefully that will carry over to this week.  Our women's team still has some injury issues to work through, but we should do well this week because we will be running in front of the home crowd. We hope we have a good crowd of support on Friday."
 
The weekend meet is the first of two on Mississippi College's home course before the Gulf South Conference Championships in Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 22. MC hosts the Choctaw Open on Oct. 15 to close out the regular season.