TERRE HAUTE, IN -- At the NCAA Division I Pre-Nationals held at Indiana State University, Liberty sophomore Josh McDougal won the men\'s white race in a time of 23:12.6 by a decisive 20 second margin over many of the nation\'s top individual runners. McDougal\'s time broke the eight kilometer course record set earlier in the day by BYU\'s Josh Rohatinsky in the men\'s blue race as the Liberty sophomore now has to be considered one of the favorites to win the NCAA National Championship crown in November. Meanwhile, the nationally ranked William & Mary men and University of Virgina men and women\'s programs all had strong team finishes to validate their current nationally ranked and even possibly help them move further up in the national polls. The William & Mary men finished sixth (219 pts) in the white race with a 24:32 team average. The #15 ranked Tribe finished one point behind #16 ranked Portland (5th place), while upsetting #8 ranked Iona (9th place). The University of Virginia Men finished sixth (252 pts) as well in the blue division with a 24:36 team average. The #29 ranked Hoos upset four higher ranked teams including #17 Florida State, #21 Indiana, #18 Ohio State, and #10 Cal-Poly SLO. The UVA women finished eighth (313 pts) in the blue division with a 21:29 team average. The #22 ranked Lady Hoos finished ahead of #21 Butler (11th place) and just behind #24 ranked Northern Arizona (7th).
The William & Mary men\'s team performance should help them maintain their current national ranking as they finished roughly around similarly ranked teams such as #16 ranked Portland finishing one point ahead of them. However, the team performance could have been dramatically better if not for off races from redshirt senior Jeff Hedley (61st, 24:48) and junior Keith Bechtol (133rd, 25:32). Tribe sophomore Christo Landry led the way for the team as he showed that same greatness that earned him All-American honors last year as a true freshmen with an eighth place finish and personal best time of 23:55 for the 8K course. Fellow sophomore Ian Fitzgerald (23rd, 24:19) stepped up big in the number two spot with a top 25 finish and Adam Tenerowicz (59th, 24:46) ran third for team with a solid run. However, the best race of the day from the Tribe was not from Landry as he was expected to run well at Pre-Nationals, but Steve Hoogland running fifth for the team in 68th place with a time of 24:52. While Hoogland has posted some solid times in now his third year with the Tribe, he was not strongly expected to run in the top seven for the William & Mary men this fall with the amazing depth they had returning. However, with Jason Schoener redshirting and Matt Keally sitting out this weekend\'s race, Hoogland was inserted into the lineup after a solid run at Great American with the \"B\" team for the Tribe. Without Hoogland\'s strong run at Pre-Nats, the Tribe could have had over a 60 point swing with Bechtol having an off day and that would have been very detrimental to the team\'s showing.
The University of Virginia men unveiled their new secret weapon they have been holding out from everyone all season in German transfer Jan Foerster as he ran number one for the Hoos in his first race of the season with a 34th place finishing time of 24:23. The Cavs were well packed behind their new front runner with only 26 seconds separating their top five with junior Ryan Foster (36th, 24:26), true freshmen Andy Biladeau (49th, 24:23), senior Soeren Linder (63rd, 24:45), and junior Andrew Dumm (70th, 24:49). This is by far the best UVA squad during Coach Dunn\'s time as the head coach and should make a considerably jump in the national rankings as they beat four higher ranked squads and beat regional rival N.C. State quite easily in their race division.
Like the William & Mary men, the UVA women ran a solid enough performance at Pre-Nats that they should probably maintain their current national ranked and not be hurt, but only validated by their race in Terre Haute. Surprisingly running number one for the Lady Cavs was Kara Scanlin in 31st place with a 20:59 clocking. Surprising because sophomore Emily Harrison (39th, 21:08) had ran number for the Hoos in every race since arriving in Charlottesville. However, Harrison ran a strong race and with Scanlin\'s recent surge can only help the Lady Hoos\' team cause. Jennifer Beury (63rd, 21:34), Laura Hodges (84th, 21:48), and Suzanne Ginnow (96th, 21:56) rounded out a top five all under 22 minutes on the 6 kilometer course.