The annual Pat Savage invitational will be held this Saturday, Oct. 1 here at West. This year’s invitational includes athletes from over 45 schools from the Chicagoland area.

The main goal, especially considering the large amount of competitors coming to West, is to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

“Being a host of a large invitational that has 45 teams coming to it, we’re concerned with it running as smoothly as possible, besides also having personal expectations for the team,” girls cross country coach Anne Heselton said. “I’m hoping the girls will get their best time of the season on Saturday.”

According to Heselton, even though Pat Savage is a large meet, it’s not necessarily the most important meet of the year.

“It’a just another stepping stone. I always tell the girls that the most important meets are at the end of the year,” Heselton said. “Since it is such a big meet, it definitely can help better prepare the girls for the more important meets, like conference.”

Some runners believe that the competition at the meet won’t be that aggressive.

“It’s mostly schools from our conference, so it’s girls that we would usually see. It’s pretty friendly,” junior and varsity runner Jessica Kalathil said.

Most runners are excited for the race, especially because they are hoping to improve their personal records.

“I’m really excited, especially because I’m trying to raise up my personal record,” junior Marisol Patino said.

The first race will officially begin at 9:00 a.m.