DELAND, Fla. – There are two dates circled on the Stetson Cross Country calendars at the beginning of each season: the ASUN championship and the NCAA regionals. The date of the former, and associated race is two days away.
 
"This is what we train for leading up to this race," head coach Bryan Harmon said "We try not to overemphasize it, but at the end of the day, we put the training and racing schedule around this weekend. Since USF we've had a number of good workouts with the men's and women's teams, they're feeling good and fresh, which is what you want at this point of the season. I have pretty high expectations for everybody. There will be no shortage of competition, we have one of the best mid-major conferences in the country. The course is a championship course that runs regionals and the high school national competitions on there. I expect it to be fast and competitive."
 
The sentiment has been the same from Harmon all year, we're improving over time, but we can still go faster. It has been a gradual improvement he has trying to cultivate at the perfect time of the year which is roughly 40 hours from the release of this article, the place, the John Hunt Park in Hunstville, Alabama. Thirteen days later, the NCAA South regional will be held at the same venue.
 
 "The team has been like a build-up the entire season," senior Parker Hines said "We just came off two of our best workouts, so we're expecting our best performances at the ASUN meet. [For me] it's exciting and the culmination of four years of hard work putting it into one last race and hopefully running fast for one last 8K."
 
Hines has been a stalwart for the program, especially this season. The senior has paced two races for the Hatters including a second-place finish overall at USF. The lone result Hines did not finish first for Stetson, he was six seconds behind Jakob McConnell.
 
"As a team, we've had some pretty good races this season," senior Sally Calhoun said "We're the fastest team in Stetson's women's team history and we're excited to get out run. Our last race was a little iffy so we're pretty motivated to do well in this race. I want to end conference on a high note, so I'm looking for a fast time and looking forward to running with my team [for the final time]."
 
While Hines has had a lock near the top spot on the men's side, the women's side has been more of unit with all members pushing near the peak of performance. With the exception of the Paul Short Run [6K] Stetson women's cross-country has had runners living in the top 10 of individual runners. Over the three other races, Stetson has registered 10 top-10 finishes with Calhoun taking two of those placements.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision