For the Penn State women's cross country team, the seasonal emphasis remained mostly on what could be achieved at the Big Ten Championships. But now that the main event is over, the team's top nine runners have to get set to run again and shift their focus to the NCAA Regional II Championships this weekend.

"We really have nothing to lose here," junior Kayla Matrunick said. "But we want to prove that we earned our ranking and that we might even be better than it."

The top seven finishers from Big Tens will compete and the remaining two will serve as alternates. The meet is hosted by Bucknell University and will be run on Lock Haven University's West Branch Cross Country Course.

The No. 17 Penn State squad is going to face a variety of teams from the Mid Atlantic Region category, five of which are in serious contention for the top spots. Along with the Nittany Lions, the major contenders are likely to be No. 16 Georgetown, No. 14 Princeton, No. 21 Villanova, and No. 27 West Virginia.

Unlike Big Tens where the winning team walks away with the yearly title of champion, at the Regional competition the top two teams from each division earn an invitation to the all-important NCAA National Championships. Eighteen teams in all will be selected along with 13 other teams that are chosen by a committee as wild card, or "at-large" teams. The criteria that the committee looks at are the teams' overall seasonal performances. Penn State was one of the teams selected to take part in the event last year after finishing third. Afterwards, the squad went on to finish 25th at Nationals.

Penn State women's cross country coach Beth Alford-Sullivan is confident that even if the team does not grab a first or second place they will be named as an at-large team. She feels that with a much stronger team than the 2002 squad and after coming off great performances this year, there is no reason for the team not to get the chance to travel to the national meet.

"We would be pretty strong to earn an at large bid," Alford-Sullivan said. "But we are going to shoot for an automatic bid. It is going to be exciting."

As for the Penn State runners, the pressure is off a little bit and the goal for now is to have solid racing across the board. Junior Molly Landreth is expected to lead the squad and have the rest of her teammates following close behind.

The other six members who will compete are sophomores Jenny Stevens and Tracey Brauksieck, juniors Chelsea Lenge and Michelle Wale, senior Tara Johnson, and senior co-captain Maureen Thomas.

Senior co-captain Katy Hillard and Matrunick will serve as alternates.

"It will feel good to just get out and race," Brauksieck said.