The Penn State women's cross country team hasn't quite had the season it envisioned in early September. Statistically, you wouldn't realize it, though.

The Nittany Lions have been top-10 finishers all year long, Molly Landreth hasn't missed a beat from her stellar junior year, and seniors like Kayla Matrunick and Chelsea Lenge have emerged to be true leaders, on and off the race course.

But the season will end in disappointment this weekend if the Lions don't run their best race to this point.

Twenty-five teams will run on the Nittany Lions' Blue-White Golf Course tomorrow with one goal in mind: an opportunity to compete for an NCAA title.

Of that group of 25 teams, the top two overall finishers will receive an automatic bid to the NCAAs. The two teams that finish third and fourth will sit in the mercy seat of the selection committee until 5 p.m. Sunday, when they'll be notified whether an at-large bid will be extended their way.

It's a situation with which the Lions are all too familiar.

Finishing fourth in this event a year ago, the team was forced to have the fate of its tournament hopes in the hands of the committee.

The good news, for Penn State, was that it eventually did get the bid. And the Lions are banking that running at home will aid them in achieving this year's goal.

"I love the home-course advantage because we know it the best," Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said.

And the head coach has no reason not to love it.

The team opened its season by dominating its annual Spike Shoe Invitational, finishing first overall. Then, on Oct. 16, the Lions placed sixth out of a very respectable 41-team field, which showcased the likes of Providence's Kim Smith, arguably the best in the country. So the team is confident it will at least get an at-large bid.

The Lions will also look to avenge their disappointing showing at the Big Ten Championships, where the team finished sixth overall -- three spots worse than last year.

"We didn't quite pull it all together there. With that said, we were only nine points out of third place," Alford-Sullivan said.

The team knows that its make-or-break appointment is scheduled for tomorrow.

"It's all up in the air right now, but it'll definitely be a disappointment if we don't get the bid," Alford-Sullivan said.