The Cavalier men's cross country team continues to put forth great performances. This time, junior Kevin Tschirhart carried the day, winning the 8K at Saturday's Cavalier Open by a comfortable 24 seconds. The Cavaliers placed three runners in the top 10, including senior Will Williams and sophomore Steve Finley.
"The meet went well," coach Jason Dunn said. "Kevin Tschirhart won the race commandingly and placed himself in a position of consideration for the upcoming regional meet. There were a number of personal bests set in the race."
On the women's side, senior Huma Husain turned in a 18:40.0 time for the 6K. Husain, a middle-distance runner, is less accustomed to long distances such as this one, but nevertheless managed to place fourth in the meet. Another key performer was sophomore Jen Hovland, who finished 14th with a time of 19:22.1.
With the Cavalier Open out of the way, the entire team can now concentrate on its next challenge, the NCAA Southeast Regional meet, which will be held Saturday in Louisville, Ky. The Southeast Region includes every Division I program in the states of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Cavaliers, therefore, will face some teams they have seen before, as well as others they haven't.
"William & Mary and Louisville are two teams that will be there that weren't at ACCs," Dunn said. "They both went to nationals last year, so they'll be stiff competition."
The men's team's goal is to win the region, something never done before in the history of Virginia cross country. But even if they manage to finish second, the Cavaliers will still qualify for the national meet.
"I think we have a lot of momentum on our side," junior Andy Biladeau said. "The team's coming together, and we're excited for the chance to race well again."
The women's team will face a steeper challenge, but it will be helped by the return of its injured stars.
"We hope to have at least one, and possibly two, of our injured runners back," Dunn said. "It's hard to know how this meet will play out, but we've been in this situation before. Two years ago, we had to finish third to qualify, and we did."
There is much more parity in the Southeast Region this year than before, partly because the top two teams in the ACC, Florida State and Boston College, are not in the Southeast Region. As such, there is no clear-cut favorite to win the meet. Virginia, N.C. State, North Carolina and Wake Forest are all contenders. Virginia Tech also has a number of strong runners and could come through with a surprise performance. The Cavaliers could be helped in their quest to qualify for nationals through an interesting rule of the selection process.
"The top two teams automatically qualify, and the at-large bids are determined by who has the most wins over the top two teams in the regular season," Dunn said. "If we happen to finish third, and a fourth-place team qualifies because they have more wins than us, we would qualify as well."
Six ACC women's teams went to nationals last year, the result of a domino effect as the teams all earned victories against each other during the regular season.
"We're all 'riding the wave,' as I like to say," Biladeau said. "We've built up a lot of momentum and we're using that to our advantage. We're all ready to go"
Read More
Cavaliers collapse, lose 3-2 in walkoff to North Carolina
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayVirginia will head to the loser's bracket Sunday after a disappointing loss to North Carolina.
Gertrude out for season after scooter accident
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayThe hype around his second season will have to wait.
Tony Bennett’s contract extended to 2030
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayWith the legendary coach secured in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers can focus on returning to a standard of postseason success.
