FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The men's and women's cross country teams will compete Saturday at the NCAA Atlantic Regional at Genesee Valley Park.

The men's 8,000-meter race is scheduled for 11 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 12:15 p.m.

"The Atlantic Regional championships are the greatest opportunity for our cross country runners to produce their best times and efforts," head coach Tom Wilson said. "It has been put into my athletes heads from June that this is what we are training for, and now it's here. So the level of nervousness is high, confidence must be high and all of my runners are ready to perform at their very best."

On the men's side, head coach Tom Wilson will send out Zakk Hess (Clyde, N.Y. / North Rose-Wolcott), Chris Shartrand (Ballston Lake, N.Y. / Shenendehowa), Kyle Collins (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern), Jed Kovalovsky (Lisle, N.Y. / Owego), Cody Martini (Palmyra, N.Y. / Palmyra-Macedon), Bobby Cooper (Macedon, N.Y. / Gananda), Jack Erhard (Syracuse, N.Y. / West Genesee), and Merlin Joseph Jr. (Binghamton, N.Y. / Binghamton). The Blue Devils are ranked No. 9 in the region heading into the meet.

"The men's team has a outside shot at making the NCAA as a team," Wilson said. "There are several individuals that will have the opportunity to make the NCAA Championships as well. This will be a huge test of heart, trust, and confidence in themselves, their teammates, and my training."

In addition to the team goal, the top 35 finishers in the race earn the distinction of All Atlantic Region.

For the women, participants will be Lauren Kotas (Lancaster, N.Y. / Lancaster), Bonnie Binggeli (Walworth, N.Y. / Gananda), Alyssa Stroud (Allegany, N.Y. / Allegany-Limestone), Kara Hall (Bergen, N.Y. / Byron-Bergen), Maddie Courtney (Getzville, N.Y. / Williamsville South), Emily Palmeri (Hamlin, N.Y. / Hilton), Julia Johnson (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker), and Kelly Vincent (Randolph, N.Y. / Randolph).

"We will look to overcome a poor performance at SUNYACs and move up two or three spots in the region," Wilson said. "I have a few runners who will look to become all-region in the race. The women must get into the race early and stay strong to achieve our goals."

Meet host  University of Rochester has launched a regional website (see blue bar above) which contains additional information. Leone Timing will provide splits at the 2k, 4k and 6k marks during the races. A link to this Live Scoring feature is also provided in the blue bar.