What better what way to spend a Saturday morning than by taking in the 32nd annual Verona Cross Country Invitational? It is also a great way to start your cross country season.

Considered one of Wisconsin's largest prep cross country races, the Verona Invitational gets going bright and early Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. on the Verona High School course, located on Hwy. M, just a half-mile north of Hwy. 151.

The meet is held on a hilly, twisting, wooded terrain that is true cross country. It is also arguably one of the toughest courses in the state, rating an 8.5 out of a possible 10 difficulty.

A great spectator course, it features multiple views of the competing athletes.

"We're expecting about a thousand runners," said Verona boys coach Randy Marks, who is also the tournament director. "Each team can only run seven in the varsity race, but the JVs can run as many as they want. Last year we had about 340 JV runners alone."

Not only is it one of the largest and most challenging prep cross country events in the state, it is also annually one of the most competitive meets in the state.

Participating schools in this year's meet include:

Davison 1 "“ Janesville Craig, La Crosse Central, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Madison West, Merrill, Middleton, Stoughton and Verona.

Division 2 "“ Baraboo, Fort Atkinson, Milton, Onalaska, Oregon, Port Washington and Sauk Prairie.

Division 3 "“ Fennimore, La Crosse Aquinas, Lakeside Lutheran, Madison Edgewood (boys only), Mauston, New Glarus-Monticello, Platteville and Westby.

Madison La Follette (Division 1), Port Washington (Division 2) and McFarland (Division 3) are the defending boys' team champions, while Middleton (Division 1), Onalaska (Division 2) and Lakeside Lutheran (Division 3) are defending team champions for the girls' meet. Only McFarland won't be back to defend its title.

The La Follette boys' are the defending WIAA Division 1 champions, while the Port Washington boys (Division 2) and Lakeside Lutheran girls (Division 2) are also reigning WIAA state champions. The field, which includes 25 boys' teams and 24 girls' teams, is divided into three divisions only for scoring.

Fort Atkinson's Spencer Agnew returns to defend his boys' individual title. But there will be a new girls' individual champion. Two-time girls' champion Ashley Beutler of New Glarus-Monticello has moved on to the University of Wisconsin.

Stoughton senior Kiah Enrke -- whose fifth-place individual finish led the Vikings to a fifth-place team finish at the WIAA Division 1 state meet last fall -- is one of the favorites for the girls' individual title.

Marks said it takes a lot of hours to pull off a successful meet and he is grateful for help particularly from the Wildcats' cross country booster club.

"The booster club has picked up a lot of the slack with concessions and helping set up the course and helping the chip timing people," Marks said. "This is probably one of the 10 largest meets in the state. We couldn't do it without their help."

That included a group of parents showing up on Wednesday evening to help clear the brush from the course.

"We started out with seven schools and have 25 this year. We had it up to 30 but some changes with the course made that too much to handle. At 25, that's pushing it but it's a competitive meet," said Marks, who added that commemorative long sleeve T-shirts from the race are also available for just $15.

There will be team Championship plaques awarded to the top two teams in each of the three varsity divisions.  The Bill Niederberger Award and Lisa Lubich Award will be awarded for the teams with the lowest overall total in each varsity race.

Medals for the top 40 runners in each varsity race will also be awarded. The top seven finishers in each race will also be awarded statuettes.

Junior varsity awards will be medals for the top 30 in each race.  There will also be medals for the top freshman and sophomore in the meet.   Each member of the winning varsity teams will also receive a medal.

The meet begins at 9 a.m. with the Boys Varsity 5,000-meter race. That will be followed at 9:40 a.m. by the Girls Varsity 4,000-meter race.

The Boys JV 5,000-meter race is at 10:20 a.m. followed by the Girls JV 4,000-meter race at 11 a.m. An open 5,000-meter race will follow at 11:40 a.m. There is no entry fee for the open race, which offers an opportunity for the parents, coaches and fans to compete as well.

The event then wraps up with an awards ceremony at 12:30 p.m.

In a schedule change this year, Marks said the boys will race first in the varsity and JV races, respectively, followed by the girls' varsity and JV varsity races. That mirrors the order the WIAA has established for this year's state meet.

"We're hoping for a great day," said Marks, who is in his 44th season coaching the Verona boys' cross country program. "It should be quite a show."