It all comes down to this.

After a long season of training, running and competing, the Georgetown cross country team’s year will end on Monday when the Hoyas compete in the 2006 NCAA Championship at Indiana State University.

In the most important race of the year, the Hoyas will look to build on their impressive showings at the NCAA Regional meet last weekend. The men took home first place in the meet for the third-straight year while the women finished with runner-up honors.

The men’s team ” which took home the title even without one of their top runners, sophomore Andrew Bumbalough ” hopes to improve upon last year’s performance at the NCAA championships where they finished in 16th place.

‘We’re ready to run faster than we have,’Men’s Cross Country Head Coach Pat Henner said. ‘We’ve got great depth and a young team that is gaining experience.’/p>

After last week’s success the Hoya men jumped to 13th place in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll, their highest rank so far this season. Five off the men were recognized for their performances at last weekend’s meet by earning all-Mid Atlantic Region honors. Sophomores Matt Debole, Justin Scheid and Michael Banks, as well as redshirt freshman Levi Miller and senior Andre LaBoy took home awards on the men’s side.

DeBole led the Hoyas to the Mid-Atlantic Region title with a second-overall finish in 30:18.8 minutes, while Miller, Scheid, Banks and Laboy all finished in the top 18.

On the women’s side the Hoyas dropped from 15th to 18th in the Coaches Association national poll after their second-place showing last weekend.

The women, led by senior Liz Maloy and junior Melissa Grilli, earned the Hoyas an invitation to the national meet with their runner-up honors last weekend at the Regional meet. Following behind Maloy and Grilli are a group of younger Hoyas who make up a strong contingent to fill in as the Hoyas’ other three scorers. Junior Maggie Infeld and sophomore Natasha Labeaud have continued to improve all season while senior Joanna Rodgers and grad student Hillary Bontz could score as well.

Maloy, Grilli and Infeld all earned the all-region honors also, as Maloy and Grilli placed second and third respectively at the id-Atlantic Region meet and Infeld took 15th.

The 2006 NCAA Championship races at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., will take place on Monday afternoon. The women’s race is set to begin at noon, followed by the men’s race at 1:15 p.m.