The BYU mens cross country team will head to the big stage this Saturday, running against some of the top teams in the nation at the Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.

No. 4 BYU will face seven other teams from the nation's top 30, including No. 1 Wisconsin. The Cougars dominated the field at the BYU Autumn Classic two weeks ago, but will now have a chance to see how they compare with the nation's best.

"As I've talked to the guys, I've let them know that the first two meets are pretty much the pre-season," coach Ed Eyestone said.

Eyestone said the middle meets of the season, like the Griak this week and the Pre-Nationals meet next month, are important because they are a chance for the team to earn at-large points to qualify for the NCAA Championships in November.

The top two teams from each of the NCAA's nine regions qualify for Nationals, but 13 other teams who have earned enough at-large points by beating other teams will also be invited. Eyestone said this is especially important in the highly competitive Mountain Division.

"Since the mountain region is a very strong region and has a lot of good teams in the region," Eyestone said, "we don't really need to be in the top two teams in the region, but we need to have beaten enough schools from other, weaker regions that we'll have enough points to get us through."

Eyestone said he would rather qualify at-large and take it easy at the Mountain Region meet, because Nationals are just nine days later.

After finishing fifth in the nation last year, the team has set the goal to finish in the top four this season. Eyestone said that will largely depend on the performance of his team leaders, junior Josh Rohatinsky and super-sophs Dustin Bybee and Chandler Goodwin. All of them, Eyestone said, have All-American potential, and that will be the key if the team is to reach its goal.

"If we can have three guys who are rivaling to be All-Americans, then statistically, you're going to be in the top four," Eyestone said.

WOMEN'S SOCCER: BYU's big-time wins over two Top 25 teams last week were recognized this week, as the Cougars debuted at No. 16 in this week's Soccer Times Top 25 poll.

BYU (8-0) started last week with a 1-0 victory over No. 22 Texas, then followed up with a thrilling 2-1 win in double overtime at No. 14 Wisconsin on Friday and a 2-0 win over Colgate on Saturday at the Badgers' Big Toe Invitational. The Cougars won the weekend tournament, and senior forward Jaime Beck was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player.