FAYETTE, Mo. - Perhaps more so than ever before, the Central Methodist cross country teams will focus on "pack-running" this season - and the Eagles' coaches want that theme to start developing immediately.�

So when Central Methodist participates in its first meet, the Eagle Invitational, for which it is the host school on Saturday at Fayette Golf Club, it is expected that the runners with the CMUs on their jerseys will be tightly-bunched.�

Scheduled to run for the Eagle women are�Shannon Feurt,�Megan Greener,�Bayley Greiner,�Veronica Hancock,�Rachel Howieson,�Alycia Jones,�Kaitlyn Loeffler,�Allyson Ng,�Cheyenne Randle,�Alexandra Scavuzzo and�Nikki Warren.

Scheduled to participate for the Eagle men are�Rory Concannon,�Brett Davis,�Ryan Dickson,�Zach Feurt,�Doug Hutcherson,�Austin Jones,�Cody Klemp,�Gage Lemmon,�Tyler Meierarend and�Rodes Ratliff.

Although Saturday's women's race at 9:30 a.m. CT and men's race at 10 a.m. will officially signify the transition from the preseason to the regular season, Central Methodist coach Mark Nelson said it will actually be a gradual process. Each race will be a 5k distance.

Temperatures are expected to be in the low to mid-70s for the races.

After Saturday's Eagle Invitational, Central Methodist's next event will come on Sept. 13 in the Mule Run in Warrensburg, Mo.