The William and Mary men's cross country team races Friday in the most important meet of the season, the Southeast Regional Championship.  The national-qualifying race will begin at 12 p.m., at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville.

Live Results

What's at Stake
The top two teams in each regional (nine around the nation) will earn an automatic berth to next week's NCAA Championships.  After those 18 teams are set, 13 more will be selected on criteria, and then the top four individuals not on a qualifying team will also earn an automatic spot on the starting line.  Finally, two more individuals will be selected at-large on a national basis, to give a total of 255 athletes at the NCAA meet.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M will be sending 10 athletes to meet, with seven reporting in to the clerk shortly before the start.  Likely to suit up for the race are the Tribe's seven All-CAA runners, led by Rad Gunzenhauser (Pittsburgh, Pa.).  Gunzenhauser was second at the conference meet to lead W&M to its 14th-straight conference title, and was a three-time CAA Runner of the Week.  He won the Spider Alumni Open to start the year, and was eighth at the Panorama Farms Invitational on this same course six weeks ago.

Also likely to run is freshman Trevor Sleight (Asheville, N.C.), the front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors after finishing third at the CAA Championships.  Sophomore Ryan Gousse (Apopka, Fla.), last year's top newcomer, was fifth at the conference meet, and David Barney (Lynchburg, Va.) was sixth.  Sophomore Nathaniel Hermsmeier (Charlottesville, Va.) will be running in front of the hometown crowd and was ninth two weeks ago, while Joshua Mercado (Citrus Heights, Calif.) and freshman Faris Sakallah (Chantilly, Va.) were 10th and 11th, respectively, at the CAA meet.

Other possibilities to run include redshirt-freshman Jacob Sears (Cary, N.C.), who was the eighth Tribe runner and 13th overall at the conference championships, and freshman Nick Tyrey (Raleigh, N.C.), 15th at the CAA Championships.  Sophomore Nathan Thomas (Brentswood, Tenn.) was part of the regional squad last year, and could make his season debut Friday.

Scouting the Opponents
Every team in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia are included in the Southeast Region.  Coming into the race, the favorites include national No. 17 Eastern Kentucky and No. 18 North Carolina, while Virginia is also earning votes nationally.  Virginia Tech and Duke are also ranked top-five in the regional polls, while the Tribe is predicted ninth. 

Massey Cancer Center 5K a Great Success
Last weekend, the Tribe took advantage of the off week to host its annual Massey Cancer Center 5K at Zable Stadium.  While it is always a great success, this year was especially noteworthy as W&M helped raise more than $22,000.  Over the years, more than $125,000 has been raised for the Massey Cancer Center at MCV, to help with research and treatment.

Conference Streak Reaches Epic Proportions
W&M's win at the CAA Championships this fall was the 14th in a row and 21st overall.  With other action around the nation, the Tribe's winning streak is now the second-longest active run in the country, behind only Iona's 23-year streak in the MAAC, and tied with Wisconsin (1999-2012) for the sixth-longest in the history of Division I.  The 21 CAA titles is the second-most of any team in any sport in the conference (behind only the Tribe women's tennis team, which has 22), and W&M's 36 total conference championships is the third-most in the NCAA.  Only Wisconsin (46) and Arkansas (42) have won more.

NCAA Regional/District Cross Country Championships (10)

Year	Region	Finish	All-Region Athletes
1965	Region III	2nd (37 points)
1966	Region III	1st (38 points)
1967	Region III	1st (47 points)
1968	Region III	2nd
1969	Region III	2nd (91 points)
1970	Region III	1st (44 points)
1971	Region III	1st (38 points)
1972	District III	2nd (91 points)
1973	District III	1st (72 points)	Ron Martin, Bill Louv, Tim Cook
1974	District III	8th (167 points)	Reggie Clark
1975	District III	No team score	Christopher Tulou
1976	District III	9th	Mike Ellington
1977	District III	12th
1978	District III	No team score
1979	District III	17th
1981	District III	No team score	Fraser Hudgins
1984	District III	No team score	Ken Halla
1985	District III	No team score	Ken Halla
1987	District II	No team score
1988	District II	12th (343 points)	Hiram Cuevas
1989	District II	6th (236 points)
1990	Region II	1st (82 points)	Paul Vandegrift
1991	Region II	5th (127 points)	Steve Swift, Kevin Krause, Brian Hyde
1992	Region II	13th (394 points)
1993	Region II	9th	Steve Swift
1994	Region II	4th (142 points)	Brian Hyde
1995	Region II	3rd (188 points)	Mike Brown, Rey Mendez
1996	Region II	7th (156 points)	Bryan Dunn, Matt Lane
1997	Southeast Region	2nd (80 points)	Matt Lane, Mike Brown, Kimble Woodworth, Brent Colburn
1998	Southeast Region	4th (135 points)	Matt Lane, Geoff Williamson, Gene Manner
1999	Southeast Region	2nd (69 points)	Matt Lane, Gene Manner, Nick Brockway, Dean Fields, Todd Swenson
2000	Southeast Region	1st (49 points)	Ed Moran, Gene Manner, Sean Graham, Ben Jenkins, Jacob Frey, Dean Fields, Mike Hoglund
2001	Southeast Region	2nd (72 points)	Sean Graham, Ben Jenkins, Craig Carey, John O'Connor
2002	Southeast Region	2nd (77 points)	Ed Moran, John O'Connor, Jacob Frey, Matt Keally, Charlie Hurt
2003	Southeast Region	3rd (94 points)	Ed Moran, Matt Keally, Jeff Hedley, Charlie Hurt
2004	Southeast Region	2nd (99 points)	Christo Landry, Jeff Hedley, Adam Tenerowicz, Matt Keally
2005	Southeast Region	1st (68 points)	Ian Fitzgerald, Jeff Hedley, Matt Keally, Sean Anastasia-Murphy, Adam Tenerowicz
2006	Southeast Region	2nd (70 points)	Keith Bechtol, Christo Landry, Ian Fitzgerald, Dave Mock, Anthony Arena
2007	Southeast Region	3rd (74 points)	Christo Landry, Ian Fitzgerald, Ben Massam, Patterson Wilhelm
2008	Southeast Region	1st (66 points)	Jon Grey, Colin Leak, Patterson Wilhelm, Ben Massam, Lewis Woodard
2009	Southeast Region	1st (49 points)	Patterson Wilhelm, Jon Grey, Colin Leak, Zach Gates, Brian Sklodowski
2010	Southeast Region	1st (85 points)	Chas Gillespie, Zach Gates, Josh Hardin, Lewis Woodard, Tom Burke
2011	Southeast Region	3rd (152 points)	Alex McGrath
2012	Southeast Region	8th (270 points)	Alex McGrath, Josh Hardin