When the runners on the men's and women's cross country teams toe the line in Saturday's Lou Onesty Invitational, they may view the season's first race as a tune-up for bigger meets later in the season. But make no mistake, the Cavaliers have every intention of defending their title on their own home course.
In a sport in which the training regimen is designed to allow runners to attain their peak level of performance near the end of the season, the Cavaliers are still several weeks away from their desired level of fitness.
"Our big meets are at the end of the year for sure," coach Jason Dunn said. "This is kind of the way that our sport works. We get more and more ready, physically, based on our training over the course of the season."
While times may not be blazing, Virginia will host some of the region's premier cross country programs, including William & Mary, Duke and the University of Richmond. Dunn cited the Blue Devil men and both Tribe teams as Virginia's primary competition.
The Cavaliers enter the meet with a tremendous amount of firepower on both the men's and women's squads. On the women's side, sophomore standout Emily Harrison, who finished second in last year's Onesty Invitational, is expected to lead the pack through Saturday's five-kilometer course. After finishing ninth in the ACC Championships as a freshman, Harrison earned all-ACC honors and was the only Lady Cavalier to qualify for Nationals.
Close behind Harrison will be senior Shannon Hawrylo and red-shirt junior, Kara Scanlin, both of whom fell seconds short of qualifying for Nationals in 2004. The women's top two upperclassmen plan to keep close to the lead, but will not push the pace.
"It is a good group of teams that will be competitive, so obviously we are going to look to win that race, [but] we are training through it basically," Hawrylo said of Saturday's field. "It is kind of like a warm-up."
The men's team kicks off the 2005 cross country campaign with a talent-laden roster and plenty of experience. After a somewhat disappointing performance in 2004, the Cavaliers appear to have the pieces in place to be among the nation's top-20 men's programs.
Despite losing last year's frontrunner, Will Christian, the 2005 Cavaliers feature senior Soeren Lindren and a talented junior trio of Ryan Foster, Andrew Dumm and Alex Tatu. Lindren, a 2004 national qualifier, is expected to stay near the lead in Saturday's 8-kilometer run, while Dumm, who finished ninth in last year's Onesty, should be nipping at his heels.
Several of the squad's incoming freshmen will run the race as independents to gain collegiate experience and gauge their fitness level up to this point.
"For some of the younger guys, it is a chance to find out what college distance and level of competition is all about," Dunn said. "Most of the freshmen are going to run unattached for right now so we can kind of see where they are at and decide whether, later on midseason, they will put on their uniform and use their eligibility."
Even with the seemingly casual approach, however, both squads will stop at nothing to keep the Onesty titles at home in Charlottesville.
"We definitely want to go out there and get on our home course and run well," Hawrylo said. "We want to show people that this is our place."
Saturday's races will be run on the scenic Panorama Farms course. The men's race is scheduled for 10 a.m., with the women immediately afterward.
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