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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Following a weekend off, after sweeping the George Mason Invitational, the Cavalier cross-country teams will travel to Indiana this weekend to participate in the annual pre-NCAA meet hosted by Indiana State University. The race will occur in Terre Haute, Ind., on the LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The women, participating in the 6K White Race, begin at 11:35 a.m., with the men’s 8K White Race starting at 12:50 p.m.
The men’s team enters the race with a 12th place ranking in the national polls and is looking to improve upon last year’s fourth place finish. The Cavaliers will compete against 10 of the top 30 nationally ranked teams and four in the top 15, including No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Iona and No. 10 Stanford.
In last year’s race, Virginia’s men’s team upset 10 ranked teams and placed five scoring runners within 31 seconds of each another. Andy Biladeau placed 21st overall with a time of 23:42, followed closely by Emil Heineking at 23:55, Jan Foerster at 23:58, Ryan Foster at 24:09 and Andrew Jesien at 24:13. Of these runners, all but Jan Foerster are currently representing Virginia.
The women’s team will enter the race in a better position than last season. Without the injuries that plagued the team a year ago, it is likely that they will be able to improve upon their previous 18th place finish. The women will be competing against nine of the top 30 nationally ranked teams and five of the top 15, including No. 3 Florida State, No. 5 Princeton and No. 8 Arizona State.
Within the ACC, the men will compete against Georgia Tech, while the women will face the Seminoles. Each team will be allowed to run seven runners in the team races, with open races scheduled for unattached or open runners.
In its last race at George Mason, the men’s team took the top three places, while the women placed three of the top four runners. Lauretta Dezubay won her second-consecutive individual title, while Heineking claimed his first-ever for the men.
The Cavaliers’ next scheduled race is on Nov. 1, when they will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to compete in the ACC Championships at the University of North Carolina.