Nov. 14, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova men's and women's cross country squads are set to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Regional on Saturday, Nov. 15, hosted by Princeton University. The women's race will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the men's race at 12:00 p.m.

The Villanova women are ranked No. 5 in the nation and are second in the Mid-Atlantic Regional. The Wildcats will face tough competition on Saturday as host Princeton is ranked first in the region and No. 4 in the USTFCCCA poll. The region boasts five teams ranked in the nation's Top 25. West Virginia comes into the race No. 6, Georgetown is No. 13 and Penn State is No. 25.

The women enter the weekend as BIG EAST Champions after claiming the 2008 title on Oct. 31 beating defending champion West Virginia. At the conference championships all seven runners for the Wildcats finished in the top 25 and four ended in the top 10. Head coach Gina Procaccio and assistant coach Meghan Courtney were named BIG EAST Staff of the Year.

"Our goal is to qualify to nationals, we want to come away with a trip to the NCAA Championships," Procaccio said. "We have done a lot leading up to this race and we are in a position to have a top three finish."

The top two teams in each of the nine regions receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. From the remaining squads, 13 teams will receive an at-large bid.

The Wildcat men enter the race receiving votes in the USTFCCCA poll and are ranked fourth in the Mid-Atlantic Regional behind Georgetown, Princeton and Penn State. Georgetown is No. 9 in the country and Penn State is No. 29. Princeton is also receiving votes in the poll.

The men finished third at the BIG EAST Championships on Oct. 31 and had two runners finish in the top 10 with five placing in the top 25. Region-foe Georgetown claimed the 2008 title and is the expected favorite to win the regional title.

"It is going to be an awfully close race and be very exciting," head coach Marcus O'Sullivan said. "We expect Georgetown to take the first spot, so it is going to come down to three teams competing for the second and it will be exciting to watch with a trip to the NCAA Championships on the line. I think we have a chance to pull it off if we run like we did at the BIG EAST meet. We'll have to run competitive and unified."

The Wildcats earned a trip to the NCAA Championships last season by a narrow four-point margin and look for a return trip.

Complete Mid-Atlantic Regional Results