While the rest of the student body prepares for the start of a new school year, the Northwestern cross country team is moving into a pivotal point in its season.

The next three races will show the team where it stands in the nation.

“Physically, we’re still in the conditioning part of the season,” said head coach Amy Tush, who is in her first year at NU after serving as an assistant coach for Butler. “But (the next three races) will help us see where we’re going to be in the Big Ten and how we compare with every other team in the nation.”

Competing in an unusually large 16-team field this Saturday in the Illinois Invitational in Champaign, the 5K race is the first time the Wildcats will run against prominent cross country programs such as Iowa and Indiana this season.

The Illinois Invitational course is also the location for the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 28.

“It’s an important race and we have two other bigger races that we’re looking forward to,” Tush said.

The team’s two races after the Illinois Invitational, in Minnesota and South Carolina, will pit the Cats against the nation’s other top teams in preparation for a possible NCAA Championships appearance this year.

Taking over the head coaching reins from the departed April Ecke, Tush said her team — with nine new faces and only two veteran runners graduated — is very similar to the one that narrowly missed advancing to the Big Ten Championships last year.

“I’m walking into a pleasant situation,” Tush said. “(The runners) are a very cohesive team. They’re very determined.

“From the coach’s perspective, we are only going to get better.”