As the cross country season draws to a close, the Virginia men's and women's teams will travel to Louisville, Ky., to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional this Saturday. The top two finishing teams in each race will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships held Nov. 23.
"Number one is that we need to remain healthy - taking care of all the little things and taking care of the things that cause stress," coach Jason Vigilante said. "Two, I think that it is important for us to be calm, knowing that our work has been really solid through the summer and that we are a very good cross country team. While we didn't have the experience we would have liked at the ACC meet, we will be ready to go this Saturday."
After entering the conference championships as the defending champions and the top seed, the No. 19 Virginia men's squad finished a disappointing second to No. 14 N.C. State by 15 points. The Cavaliers will face that same Wolfpack team, as well as in-state rival No. 8 William & Mary, this weekend.
"The top two teams qualify for nationals, but that is not what we are settling for," said junior Emil Heineking, who won the individual title at the ACC Championships and is undefeated this season. "We want to go in and win the region ... We will really have to take it to William & Mary, N.C. State and the other top teams there."
While the No. 19 Virginia women's team finished third at the ACC Championships behind No. 9 Florida State and No. 15 Duke, it faces a slightly less daunting road to qualifying. The squad will face Duke again this weekend, but apart from the Blue Devils, no other team in the Southeast Region is currently ranked in the top 30. Last year, the Cavaliers managed to win regionals after tying for fourth place at the ACC Championships and they hope to make a return appearance to the NCAAs this year.
"I think that everyone has been working very hard to fulfill their part of the goal," senior Lauretta Dezubay said. "In order for us to go to nationals, we need all five of the scorers to do their part. It is not just up to one person individually, so I think that each of us is trying to stay positive and stay focused, and that as long as each of us contributes our part of the puzzle, it will all come together."\nA complete team performance will be essential for both squads.
"We need to have five good finishers," junior Ryan Collins said. "We need to have a lot of help from people up front from someone like Emil [Heineking] to get a really good low stick, and then we are going to have the other guys bring it up in the three, four and five spots."
Led by Heineking and Collins, the men's team had the top two finishers at the ACC Championships, but ultimately lost to N.C. State because of the large gap between their first and fifth runners. The women's team shared a similar fate - 40 places separated its first and fifth finishers compared to just 17 for runner-up Duke.
"We have to get a really tight top five and have as small a gap as we can between our first and fifth runners," Collins said. "We will need support from the sixth and seventh [runners], as well. I think that being confident in our teammates will be a big part of it."
Virginia appears confident at the top, but a tight pack from top to bottom will be the key to earning a coveted ticket to Terre Haute, Ind., and the national championships.
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