The big head to head matchups come this weekend as teams will be trying to run at as full strength as possible at this weekend's Great American Cross Country Festival with plenty of future season implications on the line. The College of William & Mary men will be most likely running most of their top guys for the first time this season on Saturday's race and the UVA men will be inserting one or two of their top guys that they sat out from their impressive victory at the Lou Onesty Invitational two weekends ago. Both squads are aiming for NCAA Nationals qualification this fall and this one of several races coming up that could have an impact on their advancement to nationals.

The JMU men opened debuted in strong fashion at their home opener as they posted solid times on a tough New Market Battefield course. CW Moran looks to be the team's front runner this fall as he looked in great shape after breaking away from the field after running the first three miles with the rest of his time. A spread of 56 seconds existed between Moran (25:30, 7.9K) and fifth runner Bryan Buckland (26:26, 7.9K).

VMI made a big jump in the rankings as they won their home meet over previously higher ranked Liberty, which had defeated #6 ranked Virginia Tech earlier in the season. Sophomore Donnie Mikels led VMI with a third place effort of 25:53. Four other VMI men dipped under 27 minutes along with Mikels in Anthony Harris (26:31), Kurt Able (26:38), Pat Eggleston (26:42), and Ben Switzer (26:55). Coach Spangler's team could be moving up further in the rankings if they get another strong performance at Paul Short in two weeks.

The Virginia Tech men won their home invite last Friday as they saw eight of their runners dip under what would convert to sub 27 minutes for 8,000 meters on their 7,700 meter course. Senior Dave Atkiss led the Hokies with a 25:35 converted 8K, while sophomores James Scheiner (26:05c), Andrew Montgomery (26:12c), Rider Clauss (26:19c), and Bryan McVey (26:36c) rounded out Coach Thomas' front five.

Norfolk State University, University of Richmond, and Virginia Commonwealth (raced "B" squad at VT) had off weekends and will all get back into racing action this Saturday at Great American with UVA and William & Mary. Norfolk State and VCU will be in the seeded division, while U of R will be racing in the Nike Race of Champions with UVA and William & Mary.

No significant changes among individuals, but James Printz of James Madison University and Donnie Mikels of VMI certainly put themselves on the radar with strong third place races behind some quality runners this past weekend. Certaintly Great American this weekend will give a better indication of where individuals are at, especially with many of William & Mary's top runners racing for the first time such as Christo Landry, Jeff Hedley, Matt Keally, Adam Tenerowicz, Jason Schoener, Ian Fitzgerald. The fact that they have not had any performances to show for themselves thus far this season is what has prevented them from being higher ranked.

Among the Division III ranks, the NYU Invitational this past weekend gave a good indication of where teams are at right now as Washington & Lee, Christopher Newport, and Lynchburg
College all went up against one another. Washington & Lee came out as the superior squad with CNU second and Lynchburg a distance third. Top ranked Nathan Johnson almost got beaten by sophomore teammate Alex Mahoney as Mahoney was elevated in the rankings based off the performance.

Division I/NAIA Teams

2. University of Virginia

3. Virginia Intermont College

4. James Madison University

5. Norfolk State University

6. Virginia Tech

7. Virginia Military Institute

8. Liberty University

9. University of Richmond

10. Virginia Commonwealth University

Division I/NAIA Individuals

 1. Nathan Johnson (Washington & Lee University)


 2. Alex Mahoney (Washington & Lee University)


 3. Justin Kirk (University of Mary Washington)


 4. Michael Welsh (Washington & Lee University)

 5. David Barham (Christopher Newport University)


 6. Ricky Flynn (Lynchburg College)


 7. Daniel Swale (Christopher Newport University)


 8. Travis Wray (Lynchburg College)


 9. Matt Downs (University of Mary Washington)


10. Andrew Friski (Washington & Lee University)

11. Eric Johnson (Roanoke College)


12. Kevin Beachy (Eastern Mennonite University)


13. Jason Call (University of Mary Washington)


14. Doug Axelrod (University of Mary Washington)


15. Nathan Harder (Eastern Mennonite University)