The men’s cross country team hosts its lone home meet of the season tomorrow, hoping to improve on its second-place finish two weekends ago in the Hawkeye Invite.

Head coach Wendel McRaven makes his Illini home debut and said he sees each meet as a stepping stone for later in the season.

“We are continuing to use the early season meets for dress rehearsal, for stuff that matters in October,” he said. “We want to be ready for Big Ten’s in October and NCAA Regionals in November.”

Illinois will be using a 12-man roster, led by senior Eric Wallor, for the Pack-It-Up Challenge. Sophomores Justin Aronson, Dan Stock, Michael Kelley, Maciej Sniegorski and others are competing. McRaven is looking forward to seeing sophomore Maciej Sniegorski run for the first time this season.

“Maciej is in the mix, and he appears to be a front-runner on the team,” he said.

At the Hawkeye Open in Iowa City on Sept. 2, Wallor finished in fifth place with a time of 18:37, while Stock came in sixth-place with an 18:40.

“Our goal is to have another solid race this week,” Stock said. “Coach (McRaven) has been saying we are running these early season races to set up a routine to get used to racing and get comfortable. It’s a good opportunity to get in another race.”

The Illini will face Loyola and Illinois State in the race on Saturday morning at the Arboretum.

There is a natural excitement about this race, according to McRaven, who is also looking foward to seeing the runners make improvements from the race in Iowa.

“Ninety-nine percent of our roster is from Illinois, so you want to have a good showing in front of the home folks,” he said. “This is a nice opportunity for guys to race at home. We have an outstanding home course and it’s easier for friends and family to come.”

Stock said McRaven has scheduled a number of meets close to Champaign, which gives his and other families the chance to see the Illini run.

“It will be fun, we’ll have more fans than usual,” Stock said. “It’s one more step in getting ready for the championship phase of the season.”