11/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By Drew Harris | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington men's and women's cross country teams will face off against the best teams in the region on Friday when the Mavericks take part in the NCAA South Central Regional in Fayetteville, Ark.
The men, the Sun Belt Conference champions for the third time in four years, are ranked fifth in the NCAA South Central Region, behind only Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M and Lamar. The key to a high team finish will be continuing to run at a peak level after an emotional victory at the league meet, something that is always a challenge.
"We are looking forward to Friday," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "We believe that our season is still headed on an up note. We will need to run with a fire. If we do that, the men could possibly have their highest finish ever."
Craig Lautenslager and Michael Guerrero again will lead the way, as both will be striving for potential individual berths to the NCAA Championships. Lautenslager placed 14th at the 2014 NCAA Regional in one of UTA's best performances in recent memory. He finished just two places (and 15 seconds) out of qualifying for nationals.
If UTA can advance an individual, it would be historic, as just three runners in UTA history have advanced to the NCAA Championships, with the most recent coming in 1998. Mark Newland was the first participant for the Mavericks in 1977, while Ben Melly achieved the feat in 1987 and Henrik Skoog did the same in 1998.
Only two runners from the school have ever earned top-10 placements at the regional meet. Jimmy Balmer was ninth in 1990, while Skoog took 10th in 1998.
Thirty-one teams will earn bids to the NCAA Championships (18 are automatic with the top two teams at each of the nine regional sites, while 13 bids are at-large). After teams have been determined, 38 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships.
The top four finishers at each regional not on an NCAA-qualifying team are automatically selected as long as they placed within the top 25. Two additional top-25 finishers will be selected from the remainder of the national pool as at-large individuals.
Last year, the men placed eighth as a team as senior Eric Ojeda took 31st overall at the meet in College Station, Texas.
The women's team heads to Arkansas on the heels of a fifth-place finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championships two weeks ago.
Last year, the women placed ninth at the regional meet, and Katelyn Hayward grabbed all-region honors by finishing 19th. This year, Tori Shelton has a strong chance for a high individual finish, as does Macey Beazley.
"Tori and Macey are peaking, and should have very good performances," Sauerhage said. "In particular, we are very optimistic that Tori is set to have one of her best races, and it comes at a great time."
The race will take place at the University of Arkansas' Agri Park. The women will run their second 6k race of the season beginning at 11 a.m. The men will run a 10k, the team's longest event of the season by 2,000 meters, at noon. Live results will be available here.
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