Following solid showings by the men and women's cross country squads at the Ohio Athletic Championships on November 1 and a week of rest, the Blue Streaks are ready for their biggest race of the season – the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional.
 
To stay alive in the postseason and reach the National Championships, the Blue Streaks need to finish near the top of the pack. Accomplishing this feat will be challenging, as 37 teams on the men's side and 35 squads on the women's side will be participating.
 
However, if the Blue Streaks can pull together and work as a team, anything can happen on Saturday's meet in Wilmington, Ohio.
 
Men's Cross Country
 
The Blue Streaks tied the best performance in program history at the OAC Championships two weeks ago, notching a second place finish. The men also topped the standings at the All-Ohio Championships for the first time in school history. As a result, the team stands at seventh in the Great Lakes Regional rankings.
 
All of these accolades are impressive, but the scary part is this: the Blue Streaks haven't run their best race yet.
 
"We've killed it during workouts all year," head coach Kyle Basista said. "We haven't put it all together yet on race day…We're so competitive that we haven't raced smart at big meets: we let adrenaline get the best of us sometimes. We run well early then let up at the end. We have to be patient and take advantage of all five miles."
 
Basista is looking for experienced veterans such as Tadhg Karski to lead the way in this area on Saturday.
 
"Tadhg had his best race ever [at OACs]," said Basista. "This sets him up to not only qualify individually, but to help the team by being near the top."
 
JCU will need some unsung heroes to step up in order to move onto Nationals next week. Basista knows of a few who could do the trick.
 
"Elliot Thorkelson is one guy," Basista said. "He surprised everyone and stepped up. In a competitive situation, he'll rise up to the occasion."
 
As Basista said, it's now up to everyone on the team to "step up and run together."
 
Women's Cross Country
 
The women's squad will have a steep mountain to climb on Saturday, the Blue Streaks will be running against some of the best teams in the country. The Great Lakes Region features outstanding programs such as Calvin College and Oberlin College, making the region one of the toughest in the nation.
 
The Blue Streaks will look to turn some heads on Saturday and even sneak into Nationals.
 
JCU features a young squad, with only one senior in the top seven. Sophomore standout Becky Rohwer leads the way for the Blue Streaks. The Lyndhurst native placed fourth at OACs to earn All-OAC status for the second consecutive year.
 
"That was her best race of the season," Basista said. "She could qualify for Nationals as an individual, which would be a huge accomplishment for her."
 
Basista hopes that the remainder of his top six can run as a pack and earn critical points.
 
"Two through six need to run together and help each other out," Basista said. "They have done so in workouts, they just need to do it in the race now."
 
One runner Basista is looking for to step up in Saturday's race is Schasia Modrzynski. The sophomore picked up an 18^th place finish at OACs, good enough for second team all-conference honors.
 
"If she can use her momentum and the confidence she gained at OACs, she can do very well," Basista said.
 
Basista is also hoping that other upperclassmen such as Hanna Sterle can lead the Blue Streaks to their fourth top-10 finish at Nationals in four years.
 
Live results and a full race schedule are available HERE.