The 43rd annual Doug Conley Cross Country Invitational has a new home for Saturday (Sept. 26) races. The meet has shifted from north Tempe and Rolling Hills Golf Course to the flatter, 3-mile course that is Shalimar Country Club. It should make for speedier times from the previous seven years of competition at the up-and-down layout at Rolling Hills.

A record 60 schools are attending with a little more than 1,900 runners  entered in the three levels of races for each gender. Racing begins at 7:30 a.m. with the non-varsity girls followed by non-varsity boys at 8, invitational girls at 8:30, invitational boys at 9 and finally elite girls at 9:30 and elite boys at 10.

Boys' teams entered in the elite division are: Boulder Creek, Brophy, Buena, Campo Verde, Casa Grande, Chinle, Corona del Sol, Deer Valley, Desert Mountain, Desert Vista, Flowing Wells, Gila Ridge, Hamilton, Highland, Hopi, Liberty, Mesa Mountain View, North Canyon, Page, Perry and Salpointe. Girls teams entered in the elite division are: Arcadia, Buena, Campo Verde, Chandler, Chaparral, Chinle, Corona del Sol, Deer Valley, Desert Vista, Ganado, Gila Ridge, Hamilton, Highland, Hopi, Liberty, Mesa Mountain View, Page, Perry and Salpointe.

The defending team champs are Highland (girls) and Corona del Sol (boys) -- both two-time defending champs. Top indviduals to watch, should they choose to compete are:

Girls -- Alexis Nichols, Morgan Foster, Ava Hamilton and Gabrielle Enns, Chandler; Megan Reniewicki, Arcadia; Alexis Hocken, Desert Mountain; Abi Archer, Chaparral; Aniya Nez, Page; Kassiby Deardorff, Deer Valley.

Boys -- Manuel Olivo-Quinones, Buena; Eric Simoneau, Mesa Mtn. View; Cade Burks, Perry; Slade Sumners and Liam Kovatch, Corona del Sol; Luke Mason, Brophy; David Nelson, Hamilton; Santiago Hardy, Chinle; Carlin Resendez, Highland; Elijah Cox, Deer Valley; Jonathan Palmer, Desert Mountain; Aldo Marquez, Gila Ridge; Ian Tonemah, North Canyon.