Being a nationally ranked team and making to the NCAA National Championship may sound like an easy task. Simply finish first or second at the regional championship and you have earned your ticket. It does not matter what you have done before this, all you have to do is put it together on the right day and your team moves on to Terre Haute, IN. But when you bring together a number of ranked teams and a few very hungry teams wishing to make the jump into the national spotlight, anything can happen.

It seems the key to success at the Mid Atlantic event was to simply place yourself at or near the front of the race and make others come after you, which is just what both individual winners and team qualifiers did.

Women's Championship (6000 meters)

Coming into the weekend Villanova (#14) seemed to be the favorite having recently defeated both Georgetown (#24) and West Virginia (#28) easily at the Big East Championships. Princeton (#20) who had just finished second at the Hep Championships posed a possible threat, but there was room for a little bit of error coming into State College.

As soon as the gun fired, the strategy became very evident -get at or near the front and make others play catch up. From the start Maureen McCandless (Pittsburgh), Keira Carlstrom (American) and Marina Muncan (Villanova) established themselves as those who would battle it out for individual honors. As the three passed the two-mile point of the rolling golf course, McCandless started to put pressure on the other two runners and steadily pulled away to an 11 second victory.

While three women were battling for individual honors, the four nationally ranked teams in the race were fighting it out for qualifying spots. From the first step the team from West Virginia placed themselves at the front of the pack and were putting the pressure on the three higher ranked teams. As the runners worked themselves back towards the crowds, West Virginia was in command of the race with Villanova and Princeton trying to get back into the fight. With three runners in the top 10 and its fourth in before most teams' second, West Virginia was able to hold on for the schools first-ever regional championship.

Villanova used a solid two through five pack (14th, 15th, 16th and 21st), along with Muncan's up front running to earn a trip to the National Championship. For Princeton and Georgetown, both teams will have to wait until Sunday night to find out if what they had done throughout the season would be enough to earn them an at-large bid. (Editor's Note: Princeton was awarded an at-large bid, however Georgetown as not.)

West Virginia head Coach Jeff Huntoon was overwhelmed by the team's performance. "The whole goal this weekend was to finish second and qualify for nationals. To win it for the first time in school history with a senior laden group is special. Today's performance was awesome."

Top 15 Individuals

1 Maureen McCandless Pittsburgh 20:26
2 Keira Carlstrom American 20:37
3 Marina Muncan Villanova 20:42
4 Nicole Lee Georgetown 20:52
5 Megan Metcalfe West Virginia 20:54
6 Cack Ferrell Princeton 21:08
7 Jennifer Davis West Virginia 21:15
8 Meredith Lambert Princeton 21:21
9 Tara Struyk West Virginia 21:21
10 Maggie Infield Georgetown 21:22
11 Jenna Darcy LaSalle 21:25
12 Molly Landreth PSU 21:29
13 Mia Swenson Princeton 21:30
14 Susan Davis West Virginia 21:31
15 Ioana Parusheva Villanova 21:36

Top 10 Teams

1 West Virginia 63
2 Villanova 68
3 Princeton 83
4 Georgetown 112
5 PSU 114
6 Pennsylvania 190
7 Lasalle 202
8 Pittsburgh 247
9 Rutgers 281
10 Bucknell 287

Full women's results available at: www.ncaasports.com/crosscountry/recaps/box/d1_midatlanticwomen

Men's Championship (10,000 meters)

The men's race looked more like a battle between Washington DC and Philadelphia than a regional championship. Runners from schools located in these two metropolitan areas dominated the individual and team battles over the 6.2-mile course. Rains the previous day made sections of the course damp, but the footing was fine and would not play a factor in the race's outcome.

As the race passed the mile point it looked as if a replay of the recent Big East Championship race was in the making as Bobby Curtis (Villanova) and Georgetown teammates Rod Koborsi and Chris Lukezic were battling it out up front. But this race was longer than the Big East race and run over a more challenging course. Both of these factors Koborski would use to his favor.

At the conference race, Curtis sat back and kicked past the Georgetown runner. Koborski would not allow the same to happen and during mile five, he made a major move to get clear of Curtis. Curtis felt the effects of trying to chase Koborski, and over the final 400 meters, Chris Lukezic ran him down. Round 1 of the DC vs. Philadelphia battle to the nation's capitol.

Round 2 was the team battle, and the two favorites used slightly different tactics, but hoped to achieve the same goal - make it to the National Championships. Georgetown relied on the strength of their top three (1st, 2nd and 7th) to power themselves to a 14 victory over American University. American showed great pack running (9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 18th - with a 23 second spread) to nail down a qualifying spot.

For American it was almost all or nothing in trying to get to the championship race on November 22. Having accumulated no at-large points during the season, nothing less than a top two finish would suffice. For seventh ranked Georgetown it was simply get through the weekend with everyone healthy and then lay it on the line the following week to try to get up on the award stand at nationals.

Round 2 in the battle between the two cities went to the nation's capitol as well. Behind the two qualifying teams the University of Pennsylvania won bragging rights as the top finisher from Philadelphia as they edged out LaSalle by three points and number 18 ranked Villanova by 13. Only time will tell if any of these three will gain an at-large bid, but it is highly doubtful. (Editor's Note: Neither of the three teams received an at-large bid.)

Top 15 Individuals

1 Rod Koborsi Georgetown 30:24
2 Chris Lukezic Georgetown 30:31
3 Robert Curtis Villanova 30:33
4 Austin Smith Princeton 30:33
5 Dan Mazzocco PSU 30:36
6 Dusty Lieb Pennsylvania 30:39
7 Fleet Hower Georgetown 30:42
8 Nolan Tully Pennsylvania 30:42
9 Brendan Fennell American 30:47
10 Frank McCreery Princeton 30:47
11 Steve Hallinan American 30:51
12 Sean Duffy American 30:52
13 Pat Macadie American 30:54
14 Sean Quigley Lasalle 30:56
15 Steve Meinelt Georgetown 31:00

Top 10 teams

1 Georgetown 49
2 American 63
3 Pennsylvania 112
4 Lasalle 115
5 Villanova 125
6 Princeton 143
7 PSU 204
8 Lehigh 219
9 Pittsburgh 270
10 U S. Naval Academy 278

Full men's results can be found at: www.ncaasports.com/crosscountry/recaps/box/d1_midatlanticmen