There’s nothing ho-hum about the Rim Rock Farm High School Cross Country Classic except the name.

Saturday’s meet draws the Midwest’s best runners to Lawrence. If you don’t recognize the names now, you will in a few years.

The Liberty, Mo., High boys’ team, led by nationally-ranked Adam Perkins, is ranked No. 4 in the country by The Harrier Magazine. Along with Jenks, Okla., they are the two squads that will garner the most attention Saturday. But they’re just two of the reasons you should be there.

Clearwater’s Mallory Champa, Shawnee Heights’ Trisa Nickoley, Wichita Heights’ Ryan Wilson, Lee’s Summit, Mo.’s Marc Tegenkamp, and Jack Lemke from Benson High in Omaha, Neb., will compete.

Throw in some local studs Lawrence High’s Dylan McClain and Andy Struble and Free State High’s Hiral Bhakta and Alysha Valencia and it’s like the Kansas Relays, but in the fall.

In the cross country world, that’s more star power than a Tom Cruise movie premiere.

So shouldn’t the meet have a better if not shorter name than “Rim Rock Farm High School Cross Country Classic?”

“It’s a mouthful,” said Tim Weaver, KU’s event coordinator. “It was named before I got here, so I can’t do anything about it.”

My vote? “The Rim Rock Classic.” But, let’s move on. There’s a lot of ground to cover.

Of the 84 boys and 71 girls teams, roughly one-third will compete in the Gold division, which might be as hard to get into as any first-tier college. Back in January 10 months ago! schools sent their application to Weaver, lobbying for placement in the Gold division. There used to just be two divisions, a Crimson and a Blue. But as the Rim Rock Classic grew in popularity and renown, another division was added in 2002.

“Bob Timmons has created such a utopia for cross country out here,” Weaver said. “The course, the competition, it’s a real draw.

“For a lot of kids, winning the Rim Rock is a bigger deal than winning their state meet.”

He’s not overstating it. Free State and Lawrence High will race in the Gold division, and each team considers this the biggest meet of the year.

“Competition-wise, it’s a lot better than our state meet,” FSHS coach Steve Heffernan said. “We have not had anyone medal at this meet yet. If you break into the Top 20, that’s really something.”

Starting at 8:30 a.m., 12 races with about 200 athletes in each race kick off the fun. And I do mean fun.

For those that have never been to an elite cross country race, such as a state meet, they’re a blast. You’ll see amazing runners zipping across terrain most people can’t walk over. Fans swarm from point to point, cheering on runners. You’ll see some puking, some tripping, some jostling and some pretty intense faces.

But you’ll want to get there early and take a car pool.

Weaver said that for the first time, parking is not free ($5 a car). But he also said he doesn’t care how many people are in one car, so long as they reduce the total number of cars.

When you’re expecting 2,000 runners and nearly 4,000 people, you do what you can to accommodate everybody. But don’t let that deter you. Admission is free, and you can’t see anything free anymore (unless you park your keister on Campanile Hill for football games.)

Bottom line, if you see one meet this year, get to Rim Rock on Saturday. But don’t take just my word for it.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best meet we go to,” LHS coach Dick Reamon said. “It’s a spectacular event.”