Experience favors the Iowa women’s cross-country team heading into the Pre-NCAA meet on Saturday.

This is the seventh-consecutive year that the Hawkeyes will run the 6-kilometer race at Indiana State. Last year, Iowa finished ninth, and the harriers hope some team improvements will lead to a better finish this year.

“I think I’m more confident with our team this year,” sophomore Betsy Flood said. “We know that we all have a solid level of fitness this year, and last year, it was more about whether or not certain people would have a good or bad run that day.”

Flood finished fourth for the Hawkeyes in the 2008 pre-national event, beat by Racheal Marchand, who came in first, Brooke Eilers in second, and Sarah Perry in third. Of those women, Eilers is the only returning competitor who will race this year.

Fortunately for Iowa, Eilers led the pack at the Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 3. Overall, the Hawkeyes finished sixth in Madison. That was the first time in her career that Eilers finished first for the harriers, which Iowa head coach Layne Anderson said puts her in a good position for the upcoming meet.

But he isn’t choosing favorites.

“Based on what I’ve seen in training, I’m expecting everyone to do well,” he said. “My feeling is that all 12 of the women we’re taking have potential to run better than ever. This will be a good indicator of how much potential this team has going forward.”

The 12 women competing for the Hawkeyes include 11 who ran in the Wisconsin Invitational, minus freshman Megan Ranegar, who is out with an injury and illness. Taking Ranegar’s place at the meet is cocaptain Jennie Docherty.

Docherty ran the 2008 pre-national meet but didn’t finish as well as she would have liked. The senior did not run cross-country in high school, it was her first 6-kilometer race, which was a “learning experience.”

She said she is confident in the Hawkeyes this weekend because their dedication to training will make them competitive with the other teams at the meet.

“We know there are going to be a lot of good people in it,” Docherty said. “We just have to take care of our part and not worry about what the other teams do.”

The Hawkeyes’ competition includes 74 Division-I teams from around the nation, including 20 that are nationally ranked.

In last year’s race, three other Big Ten schools — Minnesota, Michigan State, and Wisconsin — defeated the Hawkeyes.

But the harriers said conference squads aren’t their main concern in the meet. The Hawkeyes are looking to beat teams from other regions in order to gain at-large points towards qualifying for the NCAA meet.

If history repeats itself, Iowa will gain enough at-large points to qualify for the national championship race. Instead of finishing in the top two in their region, the Hawkeyes have qualified the last four years via their success against teams from other regions.

Senior Fionna Fallon, who finished sixth for Iowa in the 2008 pre-nationals meet, said she is confident that her squad can run with the best.

“We’re hoping to show people that we’re capable and that we deserve to go to nationals again,” she said.