M.X-Country has only Philly race of season this weekend.

For once, the Penn men's cross-country team won't have very far to travel. Tomorrow, the Quakers will compete in their only Philadelphia meet of the season. "This is our first time in a while we have had a race against our rivals in Philadelphia," co-captain Scott Clayton said. "This is kind of for bragging rights this weekend." Clayton is referring to this Saturday's race against Villanova and La Salle at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park. The Wildcats are ranked third in the district and the Explorers are ranked fourth; Penn, at No. 7 in NCAA District II, trails both teams. However, the Quakers have shown success in the last few races, most notably with an individual first-place win at the Lafayette Invitational by Mark Granshaw on September 11. "We have our work cut out for us," sophomore Matt Gioffre said."We definitely have the team and the top runners." This weekend's race, while not one of the most crucial of the season, will be an indicator of Penn's chances for making nationals. Both La Salle and Villanova are in Penn's district, from which the top two teams at the NCAA regional championship will go to Nationals. However, it hasn't been since the late 1970s that Penn has qualified for Nationals, although new zoning of the districts recently has made the selection somewhat easier. "It's still very competitive but it's less competitive because there are less [runners] out there," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "Instead of lining up with 60-odd schools, you're lining up with 30." This weekend's race will be a difficult one for the Quakers. "It's a hard five miles," Powell said. "It's a very hilly five miles." The leading Penn runners this weekend will be Granshaw, Clayton and senior co-captain Sean MacMillan, who took second at the Navy Invitational two weeks ago. Gioffre and junior Bryan Kovalsky have also shown promise recently, with Gioffre taking sixth at the Navy race; Kovalsky took ninth against Mt. St. Mary's. "We don't want to peak for this race," Gioffre said. "But we definitely want to do well and we're definitely prepared to do well." While Penn faces stiff competition, its results in its first few races are encouraging. However, it has yet to be seen whether the Quakers are set to make huge strides in District II. "We base everything on the last couple races of the year which are the Heptagonal Championships and the NCAA District championships," Powell said.