The #19 Middlebury women's cross country team heads to Connecticut for the NCAA Mideast Regional on Saturday with a trip to the national championship on the line.
 
ABOUT MIDDLEBURY

• Middlebury finished fourth at the NESCAC Championship two weeks ago, with the top-eight runners recording personal-best times. 
• The squad enters the meet ranked 19th in the country and third in the region. 
• The Panthers won their own Aldrich Invitational and the season-opening Siloway Maple Syrup Challenge, while finishing in the top-10 spots at the ultra competitive Connecticut College Invite and the Paul Short Run.
• Middlebury placed fifth at the regional meet a year ago. 

PANTHERS TO WATCH

• Fresh off of her NESCAC Title, Audrey MacLean looks to win the Mideast Championship after finishing as the runner-up last fall. The Panther claimed the conference crown with a personal-best clocking of 20:21.15. 
• Also earning conference honors was Bea Parr who placed 13th at the league meet. Parr clocked in with a personal-best time of 21:20.8. Parr has finished in the top-35 spots in the region twice during her career, including a seventh-place showing last year.
• Dropping almost a full minute off her personal record, Victoria Fawcett raced to the finish line at the NESCAC Championship, placing 22nd with a time of 21:38.27.
• Kate Ratcliffe and Naomi Atwood rounded out the scorers at the league meet, finishing in 38th (21:58.01) and 44th (22:11.75), respectively.
• Breaking into the top seven during the NESCAC Championship was Violet Ross and MK Cestaro. Both Panthers ran personal-best times, clocking in at 22:15.73 and 22:21.54, respectively.
• Caroline VanSchaick also recorded her fastest time ever and was right behind Cestaro (22:23.22).

ABOUT THE FIELD

• There will be a new Mideast Champion as Genna Girard of Williams, last year's winner, has graduated. 
• The Ephs will look to repeat as the team champion, having recently claimed the NESCAC Championship. The squad is ranked #1 in the region and #6 in the nation, followed by Amherst (#2/#13).
• Coast Guard's Paige Phillips (third) and Claire Semirod (fifth) both placed in the topfive a year ago and return to the field. The pair garnered All-NEWMAC honors with spots in the top 10 at the conference meet.
• Wesleyan's Stephanie Ager gave MacLean a battle down the straightaway at the NESCAC meet, finishing in third (20:48.58) just 17 seconds behind MacLean. Ager finished in eighth at last year's regional bout.  

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION

• Location: Harkness Memorial State Park (Waterford, Conn.)
• Host School: Connecticut College
• NCAA Selections
  • The top team from each of the 10 regions automatically qualifies for the NCAA Championship with 22 additional teams earning at-large bids.
  • The first seven runners from each region who are not part of a qualifying team will be selected to participate for a total of 70 additional individuals. 

• The top-35 athletes earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors.  

The NCAA Championship final selections will be released by 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 17.