Sept. 30, 2010

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels cross country team returns to action this Saturday, Oct. 2, in the 34th Annual Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational hosted by Loyola University in Chicago. The women's collegiate race is the final event slated for the day with it scheduled to start at 12:00 pm CT (10:00 am PT). The day begins with grammar school and high school races prior to the men's and women's collegiate races at Montrose Beach.

In all, there will be over 4,000 participants taking part in the race with 40 colleges and universities, 40 high schools and 30 grammar schools in attendance.

Montrose Beach is located at Montrose Harbor, which is six miles north of downtown Chicago. The venue will have two courses utilized for the meet with UNLV running the Maroon Course, which is a 3k loop plus a 2k loop (5000m/5k).

"This is a good opportunity for us to get out of the West region and compete against quality teams from other parts of the country," noted head coach Tony Houchin. "With 40 teams competing in Chicago, this will be the largest meet that we have participated in so far this season. When all is said and done, I expect us to compete well and have our highest finish of the year, thus far."

The Rebels will be led by Lauren Petersen, who has paced UNLV through its first two competitions. Petersen began the season running the George Kyte Invitational (Sept. 4) in a time of 18:45.3. At the UCR Cross Country Invitational (Sept. 18), she one upped herself with a personal-best time of 17:32.9, which was also the fourth-fastest effort in program history.

Petersen will be joined by Courtney Allen, Alison Bartosch, Lucy Beuster, Ali Motor, Sarah Muniz, Shannon Simpson and Samantha Swan.