For all the hours sacrificed and the miles traveled, it all comes down to the regional races for the Central Washington cross country runners.

For the regional tournament, held in Billings, Mont., all the teams in the West Region will gather to be in the top six team positions. The top six teams will then be allowed to send their seven best runners to nationals in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 6.

“Both teams have been looking forward to this race,” head coach Kevin Adkisson said. “It’s going to be an especially tough race for our women. As the season has come to show that our region has eight or nine really strong teams that are all going to be fighting for one of those six spots with us.”

Currently, the women’s team is ranked seventh in their region.

Making it to nationals can be done through an individual route as well. The first three runners, who are not on one of the top six teams will earn a bid.

Returning senior All-American Connie Morgan was able to make the national race as an individual qualifier.

“I think making it last year inspired a lot of people,” Morgan said. “Nobody thought I had a chance to make it, including myself. It was a great experience and it has been a goal of mine to have the whole team go this year.”

The women’s team will be lead by Morgan and junior top runner Dani Eggleston. In the last two years of regionals they have finished 10th. They will be looking to break that streak.

As the season continues into the winter, racing in unfamiliar climates and various terrains gives racers mental and physical obstacles that they might not be used to.

With the cold weather in the Northwest, Central racers have become acclimated to training in conditions that are often foreign to many other competitors. The Wildcats are planning to use this difference in temperature to their advantage.

“This cold weather is really hard to run in,” Morgan said. “The way we see it, though, is we have an advantage over teams who are from the Northwest coast or from California, because Billings has similar conditions as Ellensbiurg.”

The regional race will be on Saturday, Nov. 22. The men’s race is a 10k and the women’s will be a 6k.