DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's cross country team will travel outside of Texas for the first time this season to compete in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Friday at the Notre Dame Golf Course in Notre Dame, Indiana.

The Mustangs will be a part of a 24 team field, the largest field SMU has seen all season. Of those 24 teams, 23 of them are ranked in their region and four teams (N.C. State, New Mexico, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt) are ranked nationally in the USTFCCCA top 30 with New Mexico being the top ranked team in the country.

After their first win of the season at UT-Arlington two weeks ago, SMU and head coach Cathy Casey feel confident in their preparation heading into their toughest challenge this season.

"We have trained hard these past few weeks and are excited to test ourselves against some of the nation's best teams," Casey said.

The win at UTA was highlighted by the individual win by senior Karoline Skatteboe who finished the 5K race with a time of 17:20.9 after missing the first two meets of the season. Casey knows that Skatteboe's return to the lineup is a boost for the Mustangs as a team.

"Karoline's win two weeks ago should give us plenty of confidence going into Friday," Casey said. "She is in great shape and Karoline loves this course."

In addition to Skatteboe's win, junior Holly Archer and freshman Anneke Grogan each have two top five finishes this season with Archer finishing second at UTA and Grogan finishing fourth in back to back meets. Freshmen Cassidy Webber and Rakel Barrientos each have a top 10 finish with Webber finishing in the top 10 in all three meets and Barrientos improving her finish every meet.

The Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational is a 5K race that will start at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m Friday afternoon. CT at the Notre Dame Golf Course. Follow Mustang Cross Country on Twitter @SMUTrackFieldXC and on Instagram at smutrackandxc.