Relatively few of the 43 runners on the Syracuse cross country roster compete in each meet. With such an emphasis on individual times, cross country is not always considered a team sport.

Just don’t tell the SU squads, which travel to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Saturday for NCAA Regionals.

The SU men are currently listed sixth in the Northeast in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, the women 10th. Only the top two teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 20, while the third and fourth places finishers can receive at-large bids.

‘We knew exactly what we wanted to do this year and everything is going pretty much according to plan,’ SU head coach Chris Fox said. ‘There are 65 or so teams in this meet, and we just want our men in the top five or six and our women in the top 10.’

Even if neither Syracuse team reaches the Championships, the next 15 finishers at Saturday’s meet qualify individually. Sophomores Nana-Sang Bender, an All-Big East runner, and Jeff Scull, who missed the honor by just one place at October’s Big East Championship, both have legitimate chances of packing for Indiana State next week.

‘Jeff and Nana have a shot,’ Fox said. ‘If Nana runs her best race of the year and continues to progress the way she has been, she will be either the last one in or the first one out. Jeff is in about the same position.’

Considering Fox’s expectations for the team Saturday, and because Scull and Sang-Bender have enjoyed so much success this season, it would be easy for them to not worry about the rest of the team and fret about their individual times.

But regardless of what their coach says, these two underclassmen have team expectations of their own and are not interested in flying to Indiana without their teammates they have practiced and competed with all season long. The concept of team is engrained in the best two runners.

‘We came here wanting to make nationals from the start of the season, and that is still the goal coming into this weekend,’ Scull said. ‘The first goal is to get the team there. If I make it individually and the rest of the team doesn’t make it, it’s good but I want the team coming with me.’

‘If I make it individually, that’s fine, but we need everybody on this team to go, not just one person,’ Sang-Bender said. ‘The team is too important for just me to go. We are a whole team, not just an individual.’

Coming off its worst performance of the year at the Big East meet, the Orange is counting on a much stronger showing this weekend. SU was dissatisfied with its fifth (men) and seventh (women) place finishes, and hopes everyone will be calmer and more comfortable this time.

Whether or not the Orange qualifies for Nationals, everyone agrees this season was a success, so long as everyone improves from the conference to regional competition.

‘We have to do much better than at the Big East,’ Sang-Bender said. ‘Everybody has to step up. We have to improve time-wise; we have to improve place-wise. We are going to do better.’

While Fox acknowledges having a runner or two qualify for nationals individually would be a great honor, his number one concern is continuing the development of this rising program. In Fox’s second season at the helm, the team has grown significantly in such a short time.

Last year at the Regionals in Boston, both teams finished 13th. The main goal for this weekend is just to improve even more, and leave a good taste in everyone’s mouth for 2007.

‘We really are hoping this meet will keep getting us ready for next year, when we do think we’ll make (nationals),’ Fox said. ‘We want to put ourselves in the upper echelon of this meet and next year hope to challenge Iona and Providence.’

Published on November 8, 2006 at 12:00 pm