Saturday brings a new challenge for Jackson County cross country competitors, heading to Evansville to compete at Angel Mounds.

The boys will compete first at 10:30 a.m. with the girls following at 11:15 a.m.

Seymour and Brownstown Central will have the chance to compete in the regional.

The new format for cross country wipes out the semistate competition, meaning if either team advances, they compete in the state competition. Seymour comes in with a third-place finish on the girls’ side and a fifth-place finish for the boys.

Neither team has competed on the Evansville College course before.

Lady Owls coach Spencer Sunbury spoke about the new course for the girls.

“We didn’t know anything about it until we watched a video of the course,” he said. “It’s an open course, and it should be interesting to see how we do. We’re excited about getting down there and competing again.”

Owls junior runner Gracie Adams is welcoming the challenge of competing on a new course.

“I can’t wait to run at Angel Mounds. It’s always a thrill to run on a college course because it mentally and physically challenges me as a runner,” she said.

Adams and Sunbury know this will be the toughest challenge in terms of competition all season. They both spoke on the regional field.

“We’ve worked hard all season for these meets. The competition will be tough, but we’re prepared,” Sunbury said. “The girls have experience to pull from, and they’ve been excited about competing all week. Once we get down there, they will be good to go.”

“We’re going against the best competition of the season. We’ve worked really hard during the offseason and in practice to get to this point,” Adams said. “I’m going to leave it on the course for the team. I want to wish my teammates, our boys team and all the runners the best of luck in regional.”

Seymour boys coach Randy Fife also spoke about the competition his team will face.

“It’s stiff competition. Some of the top-ranked teams in the state are in our region. There is no easy competition or teams to beat this year,” he said. “I’m curious to see how the team will perform in the contest.”

Fife was asked about how practices have gone this week for the boys team.

“The kids are excited about still being in the tournament at this point in the season. We had some very productive workouts this week. We’ve been focusing on running with teammates,” he said.

The Owls finished most competitions in a pack throughout the season. Fife believes it’s a good strength to have in a unit.

“We have a lot of success with our team finishing,” he said. “Our seven kids will beat the other top sevens in the back end. I’m excited to see the team compete on the college course. It’s a pretty flat course, and we should have good racing conditions.”

Brownstown finished in fourth place on the boys’ side and fifth place on the girls’ side.

The boys were led by Shane and Chance Ratliff, who finished 12th and 16th in the sectional competition.

The girls were led by Trinity Cody and Tori Lokey, who finished 22nd and 25th in order to help the Braves secure spots in the regional.

The regional features feeder sectionals from Bedford North Lawrence, Brown County, Crawford County, Jasper and Evansville Mater Dei.

Crothersville’s Beau Napier and Koby Davis are also competing in their regional competition. The meet takes place at Blue River Cross Country Venue in Shelbyville.

Tickets must be purchased online at public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=45157.

The state meet takes place Oct. 28 in Terre Haute. The competition is at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course and will take place at noon with the boys race. The girls race will take place at 2:30 p.m.