Corona del Sol's boys and Highland's girls will be on hand Saturday to defend their team titles at the annual Doug Conley Cross Country invitational at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Tempe.

Six races are set for the event, honoring Doug Conley the late standout distance runner from Tempe High. Races begin with  boys'  junior varsity at 8 a.m., girls' junior varsity at 8:30, boys invite at 9., girls invite at 9:30 and the finales -- boys' elite at 10 and girls elite at 10:30. A chance of rain si in the forecast so come prepared.

Last year's elite boys champ Nate Rodriguez has moved on to the college ranks. Defending girls champ is Rio Rico sophomore Allie Schadler. Strong fields should make for a wide-open race for individual honors, particularly among the boys in the elite competition.

Some schools entered choose not to use their top runners with a heavy schedule of invites occupying teams' time in late September and early October. Most notable on that account are Desert Vista's boys and girls  and Xavier. The top girls runner in the state at present is Desert Vista senior Dani Jones. Jones finished second overall in the Woodbridge Invitational, an elite, out-of-state meet. Jones did not run at Conley last year, opting to sit out for Desert Twilight the following week. If Jones and sophomore sister, Baylee, don't run, the girls race is more wide open for the top spot. Dani Jones was the girls champ in 2012.

Teams entered as of Tuesday: Amphitheater, Goldwater, Basha, Bishop McGuinness, N.C., Boulder Creek, Brophy, Cactus Shadows, Campo Verde, Canyon Del Oro, Centennial, Centennial, Chandler, Chaparral,  Chinle, Cibola, Coconino, Corona del Sol, Deer Valley, Desert Mountain, Desert Vista, Flowing Wells, Ganado, Gila Ridge, Green Fields, Hamilton, Highland, Holbrook, Hopi, Ironwood Ridge, Marcos De Niza, Maryvale, McClintock, Mesquite, Mountain Pointe, Marana Mountain View, Nogales, Notre Dame, Page, Perry, Red Mountain, Rincon, Rio Rico, Sabino, Sierra Linda, Skyline, Tempe, Tuba City, Valley Vista, Veritas, Vista Grande, Walden Grove, Wickenburg, Winslow, Xavier, Youngker.

Among the top boys elite race contenders (tentative): Corona del Sol's Marcus Wheeler, Mesquite's Tyler Day, Hamilton's Seamus White, Desert Vista's Xavier Esparza, Rio Rico's Oscar Amaya and Carlos Villarreal, McClintock's Emmanuel Hidalgo and Abdi Aden, Page's Jeffery Miller, Tuba City's Alber Fuller, Cactus Shadows Keith Durkin and Perry's Cade Burks and Corona's Alex Hart.

Among the top girls elite race contenders (tentative): The Jones' sisters, Rio Rico''s Schadler, Highland's Lauren Ellsworth, Xavier's Jane Miller, Canyon del Oro's Bridgette Doucet, Corona del Sol's Kelly Naumann, Chaparral's Ali Kallner and Emily Crall, Window Rock's Chamique DuBoise, Highland's Allyson Girard, Red Mountain's Taryn Estavillo, Ironwood Ridge's Kristin Powell,  Chandler's Alexis NIchols and Vista Grande's Carissa Diaz.