T-2 Days!

TEAM!

We're 30 minutes away from our departure for Winneconne, Wisconsin which means two things  (I'm now sitting in our Comfort Suites hotel in Wisconsin with access to WIFI!):
NATIONALS are this Saturday and SKIING (for me at least) starts Sunday. I've been incredibly impressed by the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work that I've seen and heard from you all this fall, so am really looking forward to joining you guys full time. That being said, with two days left of the cross country running season, I thought I'd give you a preview of the "big dance."

WHO:
Both men's and women's teams will be competing this weekend, after securing automatic bids with their first place finishes at the regional championships. For the women: Lacey Serletti ('16), Meg Richardson ('16, alternate), Michelle Buncke ('17), Hannah Cole ('17), Victoria Kingham ('18), Emily Sundquist ('18), Anna Harleen ('18) and Rebecca Delacruz-Gunderson ('18) will race.  For the men, we've got: Bijan Mazaheri ('16), Todd Ford ('16), Kyle Kistinger ('16), Noah Williams ('17), Peter Hale ('17), Ben Decker ('18), Griffin Colazzi ('18) and Liam Simpson ('18, alternate).

According to the USTFCCCA, both men's and women's teams are ranked second overall. The women will be hoping to challenge Johns Hopkins University who have taken first the past three years. UW Eau-Claire is the men's favorite.

WHERE:
Hosted by UW-Oshkosh, the 6km & 8km races will be run at Lake Breeze Golf Club, Winneconne, WI. The weather forecast predicts ~20mph winds and 2-4" of snow, so I'm not sure how much golf green we'll actually be seeing.

WHEN:
Women will race first, starting at 11:00 AM (central time, 12:00 pm EST) and then men will follow at 12:00 PM (1:00 pm EST).
Here's the link to live video of the meet: http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2015/11/21

FUN FACT:
UW-Oshkosh also hosted the national meet in 2011. You can read the recaps of the men's and women's performances here and here.

Chiara Del Piccolo takes the individual win in 2011!