Head coach Bill Cornell said freshman Andrew Fooks believes he can beat teammate Stelios Marneros, who is the defending Missouri Valley Conference individual champion, in their meet against Kansas and Southern Indiana this Saturday on the Dawgs home course.

Andrew Fooks believes he can beat Marneros, Cornell said. I haven’t told Stelios that, but if he’s close, I’ll be happy.

Coincidentally, Fooks is currently the No. 2 runner for the Salukis, and was only 11 seconds behind Marneros during a four mile time trial earlier this week.

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Cornell said meeting a team like Kansas early in the season is good for his squad.

This is the way we start off every year, he said. It lets us know what kind of team we have right away. I think we’re as strong as last year, even with six freshman.

The Jayhawks of Kansas lost their two top runners from last year, Michael Cox and David Johnston, who were both All-Americans. KU finished third in District Five, and 16th in the NCAA Championships last season.

Division II opponent Southern Indiana ended its season last year ranked 20th in the nation. The Screaming Eagles return their top two runners, Keil Kaiser and Chad Smith. They also add three new recruits to their arsenal freshmen Todd Pennington, Gregg Owens, and Jason Heile.

The Salukis start their meet at home behind Abe Martin Field at 9:00.