After two weeks of preparation, the State University of New York at New Paltz cross country team resumes its postseason run Saturday to compete in what can become a historic regional meet for the program.

The Hawks are coming off a solid performance at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) meet Nov. 2 where their women made history in earning their best place at the conference championships after placing second overall, only behind national contender SUNY Geneseo. The men finished fifth at the meet, but they feel as though they can have an even better day individually Saturday on a course they all relatively ran well on earlier in the year.

"I think they are excited to race. They have been thinking about this race all season, so I think they are just ready to get out there and do what they have been training for," said SUNY New Paltz coach Aislinn Ryan. "The women are feeling excited to have the opportunity to do something that has never been done before in a bunch of different ways. Individually having more than one person qualify for nationals is something that is at the tips of their possibility, but it is just one of those things that is dependent upon what other people do, and all we can do is set ourselves up to do the best that we can. I feel like these last few week's that's what we have been trying to do by getting in one more last hard work out and sharpening our bodies and our fitness to feel our best on Saturday." 
The top two teams on both the men's and women's sides will get an automatic bid into nationals, with one to four teams from each region then waiting to see whether they will make the cut for an at-large bid to compete. Once all teams are selected, the next seven individuals that finished at regionals will be invited to compete at the NCAA Championships.

SUNY New Paltz has never had more than one participant at nationals with Emily Cavanagh (2018), Megan Reilly (2017) and Nichole Wischoff (2011) among the three Hawks who have competed. Cavanagh had the highest placing performance for the program in the race, finishing 84th overall last season. Cavanagh had a historic regional meet last year as well to earn a spot at NCAA's, finishing 10th overall with a time of 22 minutes, 52.4 seconds. She hopes to get back this time around and improve her standing, while Cassandra Williams and Clara Flores-Reigninger are vying for their first national championship appearance as well. Williams just missed the cut last season.

On the men's side, Conor Van Riper and Jack Wilson are coming off solid races at the SUNYAC meet, finishing 15th and 16th, respectively. If they put up another top-20 performance, they too can position themselves for the opportunity to race in their first NCAA Championship.

"Clara has been hitting marks that Cassandra was hitting last year. I feel like Clara will be right on that cusp. It could be one of two places that could make a big difference for her," Ryan said. "You never know how someone is going to do. Fortunately and unfortunately, Cassandra is in a similar situation as she was last year. It is nerve-wracking for her, but it is also a great opportunity for her to do something she hasn't done before. I do really believe that it is possible to have three women individually qualify and I also think it is possible to have three men qualify. [Van Riper and Wilson] were very close at SUNYAC's – 15th and 16th – [and] at regionals that one or two second gap could be 10 men, so you never know how it will play out."

 Last time the Hawks ran on St. Lawrence University's course, the host site of this year's regional race, the women finished fifth out of 21 teams, while the men placed 10th out of 20 programs. Matt Whitworth led the way for SUNY New Paltz, placing 14th with a time of 26:05.4, followed by Van Riper who was about five seconds behind in 21st and Jake Meyers in 61st with a time of 27:06.2.

The Hawks will have familiarity after running overall solid races at the pre-regional meet about a month ago, but weather will play a factor in terms of times. Currently Saturday morning looks to reach a high of 17 degrees in Canton by the races opening gun. However, SUNY New Paltz isn't unfamiliar with running in cold temperatures, as they have practiced all season long at 6 or 7 a.m. even in the past few weeks went temperatures have dropped.

"I think they had a really positive experience there and they have a positive feeling toward the course. I think that will help them no matter what the weather is," Ryan said. "That is the thing about adverse conditions, everyone is in it. If we are running on snow, so is the first person and so is the last person and we are all going to be out there. It is just a matter of keeping your calm. I think it will be to their advantage that we went there and we had good races. Also, I feel like there were a few of us who made some mistakes and for the most part, not many, but I think that will help those people kind of know what not to do this time around."

SUNY New Paltz is set to compete in the NCAA Atlantic Regional meet Saturday in Canton, NY with the women's race starting at noon and the men's race beginning at 11 a.m.

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