The Virginia cross country teams will kick off the season as they host the Lou Onesty Invitational at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville on Saturday.
Both the men's and women's teams have high hopes for the upcoming season. Using a combination of solid veteran runners and new freshman talent, the Cavalier men's team is looking to gain a berth to the NCAA National Championships.
"We have a bunch of runners returning and a couple of really good freshmen, so I believe that we are going to have a very successful year," Virginia Coach Jason Dunn said. "We can't wait to get started."
Junior runner Walton Kingsbery, who qualified for the championships last year, will be the front runner this season for the Cavalier squad. Matt Ruhl, who will be running as a graduate student this season, also will shoulder some of the leadership responsibilities.
Ruhl had a very successful season last year, in which he was an All-ACC performer. Virginia boasts other top performers, such as junior runner Andy Filachek, senior Tom Ellis and sophomore Will Christian.
They all are coming off successful 2001 campaigns, in which Filachek was Virginia's second runner in the ACC Championships and Christian competed as the fifth runner in the 2001 NCAA Regionals. The team also will look for immediate impact from their talented group of freshman runners.
With all this talent, Virginia hopes to be successful in the invitational this weekend.
"I told the team that we still have a long way to go until Nationals, so we need to pace ourselves," Dunn said. "That being said, we are all ready to go out and race after three tough weeks of practice."
The women's cross country team is looking to have a successful opening meet as they come off last year's high, in which they finished ninth in the National Championships and knocked off seven top 25 teams during the regular season.
There are high expectations for the women's team, as they currently rank No. 16 in the nation.
This weekend the women's team will face some formidable opponents in No. 11 Duke and No. 29 James Madison.
JMU should not be underestimated. The Dukes have "a chance to be very special," JMU Coach Dave Rinker said in a story that appeared on JMUSports.com. "We lost a great group that exceeded everyone's expectations last year, but this group could end up being even better."
The women's squad will counter JMU's talent with a core group of returning runners. Leading the team will be senior Dawn Cleary, a school record holder in the steeplechase. Other runners who will be called upon to make key contributions are senior Melanie Mathews and junior Meg McGarvey.
Mathews was an NCAA qualifier last year, and McGarvey had an equally successful season garnering All-Regional accolades as a sophomore.
Senior runner Jolene Hampson, another of the Cavalier women, is coming off an injury-plagued season -- but she now is fully healthy and ready to compete this weekend.
Senior runners Ellen Dwyer, Jane Maxwell and Sharon O'Connor also will greatly contribute to the Cavaliers depth.
Newcomer Kara Scanlin, who was a two-time Foot Locker finalist and high school All-American, is expected to perform well for the squad.
Dunn said he is optimistic about the upcoming season for both the men's and women's teams.
The team "looks good," he said. "After three weeks of practice, we are all ready to start running. It is exciting to be running in our first week."
With the depth and talent on both teams, Virginia cross country should have a successful weekend and season.
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