Most teams don't like to place all the emphasis on one event, but the Penn State men's cross country team knows that it's performance tomorrow in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals will dictate the rest of its season.

The Regionals begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Lehigh University and will determine whether the runners will compete another week or be forced to prepare for track season. The top two teams in the Regionals will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21.

The race is also a chance for the Lions to regroup after their disappointing ninth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago.

"They got back to work [after Big Tens]," Penn State coach Harry Groves said. "The Big Tens are tough because it's like a national championship."

Unlike the intimidating Big Ten field, which featured six MONDO top-30 teams, the Lions will face a weaker field at the Regionals, but in a more important race. The Lions, who are 10th in the Mid-Atlantic Region will see several teams it has already faced this season, including the region's top two teams, Georgetown and American.

"The Regionals are a more important race than Big Tens, but they're not as tough, depth-wise," Groves said.

The Regionals, which usually have 30 to 40 teams competing, feature seven runners from each team. Groves said that he and assistant coach Artie Gilkes made the decisions on who to send based not just on this season's results, but also which runners were in the best shape at this late stage of the season.

"We needed to send runners who are going to have good individual performances," Groves said. "You've got be able to run fast and have a good day."

The seven runners the Lions will be sending to Regionals are seniors Sean Kennedy, Matt Lincoln, Ian McCann and Chris Nirschel; junior Dan Mazzocco; and sophomores Oskar Nordenbring and Michael Syrnick.

Mazzocco, who has been the Lions' top runner in every race except one, led the team at the Big Ten Championships, finishing in 15th place. Mazzocco has also been able to maintain his health this season after being hampered by stress fractures throughout the 2005 track season.

"It's a been a big positive for me," Mazzocco said. "The big goal has been to stay injury-free for over a year and see where it takes me."

While Mazzocco has led the team all season, Nirschel and Nordenbring have been major contributors for the Lions. Nirschel was the Lions' top runner in the season opener at Lock Haven and ran to a second place finish. Nordenbring has had top-10 finishes in two races this season.

The Lions have already run one race at Lehigh's course this season, finishing eighth in the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 1.

"It's a well-defined and really wide course," Groves said.