The hard work, determination and effort the Michigan women's cross country team has invested in this season will come to a head Saturday at the NCAA district championships in Champaign.
If Michigan places second or better in the field and makes it to nationals, then the Wolverines would have maximized their potential. Disappointing losses to relatively unheralded teams like Eastern Michigan, and the Wolverines' fifth-place finish in their only home meet of the season, would be forgotten.
If the Wolverines are unable to rise to the challenge, however, they will be the first Michigan squad in eight years not to qualify for the NCAA championships.
Breaking such an illustrious tradition is not what Michigan captain Jen Barber wants her senior year to be remembered for.
"It would be really bad to go out on a bad note," Barber said. "I don't want to finish and think I had more left, or I didn't race as hard as I could have, or I let my team down. I just want to give it my all and not have any regrets."
Barber said that although the rest of the young Michigan team may not share her sense of urgency, she knows that they realize the importance of maintaining the high standards associated with Michigan cross country.
"We know it's something we've done for years, and it's something we're definitely capable of doing this year," Barber said. "We don't want our season to end now, because it would be anti-climactic. I think even though (the rest of the Wolverines) are young, they definitely understand it's important to race hard this weekend, because nationals is really what it's all about."
Now may be the best time for the Wolverines to face what could potentially be the ultimate test of the season. After a strong showing at the Big Ten championships two weeks ago, Barber feels that the Wolverines have gained the momentum they need to propel themselves into NCAAs.
"I definitely think it will help us," Barber said. "Big Tens was definitely a step in the right direction. It was definitely a confidence booster, but I think we can run better, and we're going to have to do that to make it to nationals."
Michigan is not guaranteed a bid to the championships. Due to a disappointing mid-season performance, the Wolverines will not be able to rely on an at-large bid to qualify. Instead, they must place in the top two at districts in order to receive an automatic invitation to the national meet.
Wisconsin is the heavy favorite to win districts. The Wolverines need to concentrate on the Badgers and some of the other strong teams such as Notre Dame, Ohio, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. The Wolverines already have regular-season losses to the Falcons and the Eagles, so Michigan coach Mike McGuire knows that earning a bid is not a given.
"We're pretty focused on the fact that we have to be no worse than second," McGuire said. "Bowling Green only beat us by three or four earlier in the season, so we feel we can knock them off. We have to have our pack well ahead of Notre Dame's pack, (but) with their front-runners they're going to present a tall order for us."
Barber said that if the Wolverines are going to compete successfully, their pack of runners must be as aggressive as possible - attacking the front, instead of becoming complacent during the race.
"We still have the pack mind-set, but we're going to try to get out at the front more," Barber said. "We did a little better at Big Tens, but we need to do it even more. We have to get out quickly, find each other and then work on speeding up."
McGuire said that he does not want Michigan's legacy of success to intimidate the team, but at the same time he recognizes that qualifying for nationals for the ninth year in a row would place the Wolverines in prestigious company - an honor he would gladly accept, and which he believes they can realistically achieve.
"I'm not under any pressure, and I'm not exerting any on our athletes," McGuire said. "We're definitely capable of getting there, (and) every year that I've been head coach we've either been first or second. We know the situation this year is that if we are less than second we're not going, but I wouldn't call it pressure.
"We want to continue our tradition. Not many teams can lay claim to the fact that they've been to the nationals eight years in a row. We want to be among a select group."