EL DORADO, Kan. – Following a successful regular season that consisted of four races, Butler cross country has its attention turned towards the Region VI Championship at the Allen Cross Country Course in Iola on Friday.

The men's team kicks things off with a 10:30 a.m. start for the 8k and the women follow it up with an 11:30 a.m. start to the 5k.

"I think the men and women are both pretty motivated," said Butler assistant track and cross country coach Mark Emerson. "We are going to run our full men's and women's squad together for the first time this year. They are motivated and know what the job is and what needs to be done."

When it comes to winning races, Adem Bouldjadj and Khloi Bird both know a thing or two about it this season. Bouldjadj has won all four races the Grizzlies have participated in this season and has been named the USTFCCCA National Cross Country Athlete of the Week twice as well as the NJCAA National Runner of the Week and KJCCC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week. Bird has won three consecutive races entering the region VI race and has been named the NJCAA National Runner of the Week. They will both look to carry their continued success into the postseason.

"They are going to see some really good competition," said Emerson. "On the guys side for Adem, he's been dominating but there's a student-athlete at Colby who is extremely talented that we haven't seen all year and they are the two frontrunners. Whoever wins on Friday has a good shot at winning an individual national championship later this season. Same thing with Khloi, we haven't raced Cloud County and they will be stiff competition. Both Khloi and Adem just have to realize that this race will be closer than some of the others and hopefully the preparation has been enough."

With a lot of rain in the area the course figures to be in muddy conditions but luckily the Grizzlies have raced at the Allen Cross Country Course already this season so they are familiar with the layout and terrain.

"There's some advantages since we checked it out before some other teams," said Emerson. "It should be sloppy and muddy out there so we're taking that into account."

Injuries have been a factor for Butler this season with some lingering throughout the season. The Grizzlies are excited to finally have the full squad ready to go in Iola on Friday.

"We had a couple injuries this season but the goal was always to get everyone back on track for regional meet," said Emerson. "We've got some student-athletes who have been training for a little over a month that are getting back into shape so getting over that hump will be big for them."

The meet is available to watch on kjcccsports.net. Live results and timing can be found on Black Squirrel Timing's site, linked here. Results, updates and photos can be found @ButlerGrizzlies on Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram accounts.