The men’s cross country team raced to victory last season, winning an ACC title. But with the loss of several talented seniors, the Cavaliers will need to fill leadership roles to continue their success. Photo by Jason O. Watson.

The Virginia cross country team will host the Lou Onesty Invitational at Panorama Farms to open its season Saturday.

Both the men’s and women’s teams had successful seasons last year, with the men’s team winning the ACC title and the women’s team capturing the Southeast Regional title.

Virginia coach  Jason Vigilante considers this weekend’s season opener as a type of preseason meet, through which the teams can formulate ideas about where they stand in relation to other runners.

“This first meet will give a few individuals a chance to showcase where they are fitness-wise,” Vigilante said. “We won’t run our full squad, but just a portion of our men’s team and a portion of our women’s team.”

This year, the Cavaliers return two-time All American junior Emil Heineking, who was the ACC’s first runner to finish at the NCAA championships. Heineking, along with junior Ryan Collins, will highlight the men’s squad this season.

“We picked up some new runners this year, which has the returning guys pumped up and working hard,” Collins said. “We bring a lot of guys back, a lot of them are getting older and maturing, and I feel some of the younger guys will be stepping up and give us a lot of chances to fill some of the extra spaces.”

For the women, senior Lauretta Dezubay will be among the leaders again this season. The women’s squad will also have junior Catherine White, a transfer from Arkansas. White finished first at the SEC Championships last season and was named the 2008 SEC Athlete of the Year.

Though many teams might use the offseason to push themselves as hard as they can, the women’s team took a slightly different approach.

“Instead of really putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to really go after it hard in the summer, we all took a step back and worked on what each of us individually needed to do to make sure we are where we need to be when the season starts,” senior Lauretta Dezubay said.

Offseason training that focuses on the long-term goal of making it to the championships can make a long season more bearable.

“The best thing our women’s team has done is to keep in perspective that it is a long season and train everyday with a focus on the big meets,” Vigilante said.

Vigilante also noted that though individual success is key, the team’s overall performance is just as important if the Cavaliers want to make it to the ACC and national championships.

“Those guys have recently begun to figure out that they are a part of something more important than themselves,” Vigilante said.