A season without injury has only produced success for senior runner Lauretta Dezubay, who has captured the top title in both races of the season for Virginia women’s cross country this year. She and the Virginia cross country team will look to continue their dominance as they travel to Terre Haute, Ind. this weekend to compete in the Pre-NCAA Meet. This race will provide Virginia with stiff competition because some of the nation’s best cross country runners will race together. It is a preview of what the national meet entails, as it is the same course where the NCAA Championships are held.
“Just about every team in the country comes to the race to preview the course for the national meet,” coach Jason Vigilante said. “This weekend will be a preview of how you stand. We’re able to get points for at-large implications to help us get into the national championships, as well as helping our [national] rankings.”
This year, the Virginia men’s cross country team is ranked No. 12 in the nation. Last year, the men finished fourth overall in the Pre-NCAA Meet, lead by then-junior Andy Biladeau, who finished 21st.
The women finished 18th overall in last year’s Pre-NCAA race with graduate Emily Harrison running a 20:05 in the 6K to finish fourth.
This year, the women will look for leadership from Dezubay. Her hopes to compete last year in the Pre-NCAA were crushed with an early season-ending injury. That has all changed this fall, however, as shown by her back-to-back titles to open the season, leading the women to team victories in the Lou Onesty Invitational and the George Mason Invitational. The Onesty Invitational marked Dezubay’s first-ever collegiate win because of a personal best time of 17:55.01.
“Dezubay has been spectacular,” Vigilante said. “She has done a great job so far and has done it with a smile.”
In the Pre-NCAA race two years ago, Dezubay was Virginia’s sixth finisher. Considering the team’s results thus far this season, Dezubay and the squad look to continue raising their standard for success.
“My personal goal is to have a good race and walk away knowing the team raced well and together,” Dezubay said. “I am hoping to run faster than the previous 6K race this season.”
This will be the second 6K race of the season for Virginia, as the George Mason Invitational was also formatted as a 6k race. Dezubay and the other women will have to run against a huge field of competitors in the Pre-NCAA meet.
Dezubay needs to do “her best in her race as there will be 294 women competing,” Vigilante said. “She will have to be confident and patient, yet aggressive and tenacious in a race that should take about 20 minutes.”
As a team, the women look to improve on the 18th place finish they clocked in last year. The women are allowed to have seven runners compete this weekend, and each runner will impact the team’s final score.
“A goal for our team is to place better than last year,” Dezubay said. “We will really focus on everyone going out and competing our best on race day. Then we will just let our scores fall where they may.”
Dezubay enjoys the opportunity to run during her senior season,contributing both through competition and through her leadership on the team. “It is great to finally be actively involved in the team,” Dezubay said. “I like to go out everyday and see how I can get better to help the team. It is not just about the races, but the whole process.”
Dezubay and the team look forward to representing Virginia and competing against the nation’s best tomorrow.
“Everyone’s excited to travel for the first time and put on the Virginia uniform to compete against the top schools in the nation,” Dezubay said. “It is such a huge motivator, and this meet will be a lot of fun.”
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