After Virginia's men's and women's cross country teams both placed third at the ACC Championships, the squads have been focusing on preparing for this Saturday's regional meet.
Last year, the men's team won the ACC's while the women placed sixth. However, both teams are in search of an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
"There are really four teams competing for the top two spots [which would receive automatic bids]," Virginia coach Jason Dunn said. "On the men's side, it's really N.C. State, us, William & Mary and Louisville. On the women's side, we'll have to face N.C. State and Duke," both of whom placed ahead of Virginia at the ACC meet.
The Cavaliers will be facing between 35 and 40 schools at this regional meet. Virginia's region consists of schools from the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia. However, the Cavaliers face particularly intense competition from other ACC teams for the top spots.
"We're really focusing on the same teams we faced at the ACC's," junior Emily Harrison said. "We're shooting to make a run for Duke. Anybody can be a contender, though."
Harrison as well as the rest of the Cavaliers have shifted their workouts to try and recreate what the course will be like when they travel to Kentucky.
"We've been doing specific workouts on flatter courses that nears the terrain that we're going to be seeing in Louisville, faster and shorter stuff," senior Andrew Dumm said.
Aside from preparing physically for a possibly shorter and faster course, both teams are training in other ways in order to perform well on Saturday.
"We're really just mentally and emotionally coming together as a team, getting ready for the opportunity to finish really well," Harrison said.
Another important strength of the team is leadership.
"This will be my third regional competition, so I have a little bit more experience than the other guys," Dumm said on what he feels his role is on the team.
Dunn expressed his concern of having the fifth runner be pushed for a better team score.
"It's very much a team thing at this point. We're going to rely on everybody to have their best day," Dunn said. "I don't feel like we've had on either side [men's and women's] a race yet this year where we've had five people really on their game in the same race, and that's what we're looking for."
If neither squad places in one of the top two spots at this meet, they'll hope to receive an at-large bid inviting them to nationals, which will be held on Nov. 20 in Terre Haute, Ind.
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