CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Cavalier cross country teams are set to compete on Saturday at the NCAA Southeast Regionals hosted by Wake Forest. The meet will occur at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C., a grass course interrupted only by a 5-meter long bridge and three access roads, and will feature teams from Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The women’s 6K race will begin at 11 a.m., with the men’s 10K scheduled to follow at noon.

Coming off a second-consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, where sixth-year Ryan Foster became the first Cavalier male to claim the individual title, the men enter the weekend as the top team in the Southeast Region and are ranked 13th nationally. The women put together an impressive performance at the ACC Championships and moved up to third in the region, tying then-No. 30 Duke for fourth place at the conference meet.

The Cavalier men earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships last year with a fourth-place finish at regionals. Second-year Emil Heineking finished 14th at the meet and was followed closely by fourth-year Andy Biladeau and Foster, to lead the trio in earning All-Southeast Region honors. Fourth-years Andrew Jesien and Kevin Tschirhart also competed in the event a season ago, giving Virginia five experienced runners heading into this year’s championships.

The women finished sixth at Regionals last year and narrowly missed a bid to the NCAA Championships. Third-year Stephanie Garcia is the team’s top returning finisher from the competition, as she earned all-region honors with her 25th-place finish. Garcia led the women at ACCs, finishing eighth, while fourth-year Lauretta Dezubay, the Lou Onesty and George Mason Invitational individual champion, also earned all-conference honors, finishing the race in 10th.

The top two teams and top four individuals from each of the eight regional meets will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships to be held in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 24. Thirteen teams will also earn an at-large bid, to be announced on Sunday, Nov. 16.