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Nov. 7, 2007

By Brandon Cunningham

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2007 NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships will be held this weekend out at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. The University of Louisville will be hosting the Southeast Regional for the second straight year, teaming up with the Greater Louisville Sports Commission.

Admission will be $5 for parking per car and the men's 10K meet will kick off all of the racing action at 11 am, followed by the women's 6K meet taking place at 12:15 pm. Among the list of participating schools in the men's race are No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 North Carolina State, No. 13 Louisville, and No. 25 William and Mary. With trips to nationals on the line, this year's meet will prove to be a very exciting, competitive race.

No. 9 Virginia enters the regional meet on a roll, having just won the ACC championship in Charlottesville. Andy Biladeau paced the Cavaliers as they upset then-No. 7 North Carolina State on its home course. Along with Biladeau's runner-up performance, Ryan Foster and Emil Heineking finished third and fourth for the Cavaliers, respectively.

North Carolina State comes to Louisville riding a strong showing in the recent ACC championships in Charlottesville. Chris Kollar became the first NC State men's individual conference champion since 2003, as the Wolfpack went back and forth with eventual champion Virginia for most of the race. In all, a total of six NC State runners finished in the top 14 of the conference championships.

The University of Louisville solidified their spot in the upcoming national championships with their first ever BIG EAST Conference championship. Senior Wesley Korir paced the host Cardinals by finishing runner-up, one of four U of L runners placing in the top 10, as Louisville held off the rest of the field. The No. 13 Cardinals are riding their best streak of the season into the regional championships this weekend and look poised to compete with the tough field coming into town.

No. 25 William and Mary turned in the most dominating performance in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference championship history in preparation for Saturday's meet. They were led to their eighth straight conference title by two-time all-American Christo Landry's blistering time that fell just short of the course record. An astounding 10 of 12 runners for the Tribe won All-CAA honors by finishing in the top 12 in the meet. They look to continue their hot streak this weekend in Louisville.

Both NC State and William and Mary look to build on last year's success as they finished first and second respectively, earning bids to the national championships at Indiana State. Also competing in this year's race will be defending individual champion Jacob Korir of Eastern Kentucky and runner-up Josh McDougal of Liberty University. Korir hopes to defend his title this year as he goes up against a tough field full of strong runners. This year's Southeast Regional meet is expected to be strong and hard-fought as each team lays it all on the line for a trip to Terre Haute.