The Lakeland University men's and women's cross country teams will joins the ranks of Muskies athletics teams getting a brief taste of competition this fall with their first and only meet of the season Saturday.

The Muskies will begin and end a short season when they travel to the Warrior Invitational hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College Saturday morning. The event at Greenfield Park in West Allis will begin with the women's race at 10 a.m. and the men's race to follow at 11 a.m.

The event will be the second off campus for a Lakeland team this fall, coming after the women's golf team faced Wisconsin Lutheran in a dual two weeks earlier. Muskies teams have had their schedules shortened or completely postponed due to the COVID-19 virus, and all Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference fall championships have been moved to the spring.

Like other fall sports teams, the Lakeland cross country teams have been practicing this fall. Most of the teams' events will take place in the spring, and some members of the team have chosen to hold off from competition Saturday to focus on the spring, but five runners from the men's team and three from the women's squad are planning to run Saturday at WLC.

"I'm so proud of these young men and women, not only for practicing hard without a true season, but also for self-isolating in order to protect the integrity of the NCAA-mandated COVID tests they were required to take earlier this week," said Lakeland Head Cross Country Coach Pete Barth. "I'd also like to thank Lakeland's leadership, especially (Director of Athletics) April Arvan and (V.P. of Campus Life) David Simon, for their support and efforts to help make this happen.

"It'll just be one cross country meet this fall, but I hope our athletes enjoy the experience. They certainly have earned the right to compete."

The women's team includes juniors Nathalie Cairo (Kenosha, Wis.) and Kayla Bruton (Milwaukee, Wis.), the team's lead runners each of the last two years. Cairo earned all-state honors at the Wisconsin Private College Championships last year, while Bruton has consistently been a solid second to Cairo in the Muskies' lineup and also has been a strong sprinter for the Lakeland track & field team. Junior Zoe Schrameyer (Sheboygan, Wis.) also will compete and is back with the team after a year off but competed for the squad in 2017 and 2018.

The men's team includes sophomore Kevon Holbrook (Bourbonnais, Ill.), who was the team's No. 2 runner and finished just outside the top 30 at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championships last year as a freshman. Sheboygan natives Spencer Miesfeld and Tyler Jensen also are veterans of the team that will compete, including Miesfeld as the team's lone senior.

Rhett Botzet (Hortonville, Wis.) and Anthony Romens (Slinger, Wis.) also are members of the Lakeland track & field team who competed as freshmen this past spring and are in their first year with the cross country team.