CHICAGO – Loyola Chicago cross country hits the course for the first time this season on Friday, Sept. 4 at the Lewis Early Bird in nearby Romeoville, Ill.  

Due to excessive heat in the area, the races will now take place in the morning, instead of the evening. The men are set to race at 9:30 a.m. (6,000 meters) and the women at 10 a.m. (4,000 meters).  

Other teams competing are: Aurora, Purdue Northwest, Concordia, Dominican, Moody Bible, Olivet Nazarene, Lake Forrest, Elmhurst, Alverno, Benedictine, Saint Ambrose and Sauk Valley.  

Loyola's men's team placed seventh in the first batch of the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings while the women ranked 14th. Last season, the Ramblers' captured the program's third Atlantic 10 crown in four years on the men's side and the women repeated as the conference champions under 7-time A10 Coach of the Year Gavin Kennedy. 

Following Friday's meet, the Ramblers host the 47th annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational along the shores of Lake Michigan at Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course on Sept. 25.