Multiple ranked opponents await the TCU cross-country team as it heads to Waco to compete in the 2013 Big 12 Championships on Nov. 2.

Three NCAA Top 25 teams in Oklahoma State (2), Oklahoma (4), and Texas (9) will challenge a young TCU men’s cross country team at the 2013 championships.

The men are looking to improve from last season’s ninth place finish, but will once again bring a roster loaded with freshmen. Junior runner Preston Newsome, who led the Horned Frogs in the 2012 championships, will not be making the trip. He finished 64th with a time of 26:47.7.

Senior Jake Rossmango, junior Taylor Moult, and first-years Greg May, Ryan Dykstra, Alan Castilleja, Shane Murray, Luis Cuenca, and Ryan Spetnagel are the runners representing TCU men’s team this season.

The team is coming off a tough performance at the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 5, finishing 13th out of 14 teams. Moult led TCU with a time of 26:50.1.

If the women’s cross-country team needs any encouragement, it can look back to last season’s championships. The Lady Frogs brought four first-year runners to the meet but still managed to finish fifth. Sophomore Laura Orlie finished 36th with a time of 22:08.

Head Coach Liz Wort said to “finish in the top half of the Big 12 with four freshmen is a great debut.”

Senior Shannon Spier, sophomores Genna McCarthy, Nicole Bell, and Breanne Ball, and first-year runners Randie Spier and Kate Majewski will be representing the women’s team.

The Lady Frogs finished 12th at the Chile Pepper Festival. Ball finished 111th and led the team with a time of 19:44.3.

Baylor is hosting the Big 12 Championships for the second time in school history. The race will be held at the Cottonwood Golf Course. The men will begin at 10 a.m., while the women will start one hour later. Admission is free to the public.