Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action this weekend, with the majority of the two squads heading to Rhode Island for the Rothenberg Run Friday, while junior Christina Melian (Staten Island, N.Y.) will compete at the Pre-Nationals Invitational at Louisville Saturday.

Melian will face a stacked field in Louisville at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, the home of the 2015 NCAA Championships. The Seawolf junior has finished first in both meets in which she has run this fall. Melian opened the fall with the individual title at the Stony Brook Season Opener Sept. 5 before outlasting a field including four nationally ranked teams at the Battle in Beantown Sept. 26. Melian was tabbed as USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for her efforts in Boston in her last time out.

"This weekend is a little different for us, as Christina is heading to the Pre-NCAA meet in Louisville," said Stony Brook head coach Andy Ronan. "As one of the potential individual qualifiers from the Northeast Region, I felt it was important that she get a run on the national course against quality opposition over the 6,000-meter distance. The majority of the top teams and individuals will be in the field, so I feel she will gain valuable experience for the end-of-season meets."

The starting gun of the women's 6K in Louisville will be at 10:15 a.m.

The remainder of the Seawolves will travel to the Ocean State for the Rothenberg Run Friday afternoon at Goddard State Park, on the Warwick/East Greenwich line in Rhode Island. The men's 8K will begin at 3 p.m., with the women's 5K to follow at 3:40 p.m. Friday will mark the first time any of the current Seawolves have run in the meet.

"This meet will have about the same numbers of participants that the conference meet will in two weeks, so it will be a good opportunity to sharpen our racing skills as we head towards the main part of the season," said Ronan. "The men will compete at this meet also, and they too will be using this meet as the last tune up for the conference and regional championships."