The men's cross country team will try to end the season on a good note when it runs its final race, the IC4As, tomorrow. The IC4A race serves as the regional NCAA qualifying race. The top three teams from two different districts, as well as the top five individual places that are not on those teams, advance to the NCAAs. Usually about 60 teams race in the IC4As. This year, six or seven teams in tomorrow's meet are nationally-ranked. Georgetown, William and Mary and Villanova are expected to be the top finishers. Coming off a poor performance at the Heptagonals, the Quakers hope to post better results this time around. "The goal for the team is to save face," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "We are in much better condition than we have shown in the races. The biggest thing is not to go out and get hung up on time and place, but to just go out and race again. Its time to go for the group." Penn captain Matt Wilkinson has a fair shot at making nationals, for which the top 40 or 50 places at IC4As usually qualify. Last year Wilkinson just missed, finishing 54th. One problem Wilkinson had in the Heptagonals two weeks ago, in which he finished 12th, was he went out too fast and then could not stay with the front pack at the end of the race. "Matt wants to be a little more conservative this time, and work up into the top group in the middle of the race. He has a good chance of scoring," said Powell. The Quakers hope to end the season positively. "It's time to stop thinking and just go out and do," Powell said.
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