Men's Cross-Country to compete in Regionals

The Mid-Atlantic Region's top men's cross-country squads will invade West Virginia's Canaan Valley this weekend.

The Quakers, who are ranked seventh in the region, enter the race as the heavy underdog.

Still, the Quakers will have a shot to vie for the race's ultimate prize -- a trip to nationals -- which will be awarded to the top two or three teams.

"We're going to try to keep our ranking at seventh and then see if we can surprise a team or two," Penn coach Charlie Powell said.

The Quakers runners agreed.

"I'd like to say we're going to win, but fifth to eighth is a realistic goal," sophomore Stephen Hayes said.

Penn will face some of the nation's best at the race, hosted by the University of West Virginia, including Villanova (10th), Georgetown (16th), LaSalle (30th) and Princeton (41st).

Penn believes that its neighbor, the Wildcats, are the favorites.

Villanova "has handily beaten everyone this year," Powell said. "They should walk away with it."

While the Quakers have a very small chance of qualifying for the nationals as a team, several individuals have a shot at making it.

Sophomores "Dusty Leib and Nolan Tully have an outside shot of qualifying," Powell said.

All teams competing this weekend, however, will have one thing in common. This will be the first time any Division-I team has ever raced on Canaan Valley.

"The course will make it a very interesting day," Powell said. "It's going to be in the mid-to- low 30s and it's going to snow."

"It will be harder to breathe," Hayes said. "I hear the course is located at two to three thousand feet" above sea level.

Barring a miracle upset, this will be the last meet of the season for Penn. Despite a strong start, the young Red and Blue squad let its inexperience show toward the end of the season, finishing a disappointing seventh at Heptagonals.

Nevertheless, the team remains very optimistic of things to come.

"On paper nothing seemed to happen this year, but to us everything seemed to click," Hayes said.

"The season was a very big success," Powell said. "We were starting from ground zero, with 10 of our top 12 as freshmen or sophomores, but despite this youth, we have taken some really big strides."

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