The Arizona men’s and women’s cross country teams are about to embark on the most important meet of the season today in Eugene, Ore.: The Pacific 10 Conference Championships.

The UA women will face four teams ranked in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25.

Things have been looking good for the women’s team and senior Irine Lagat – who has been the top Wildcat runner for a few seasons now – is very confident in the team’s ability to succeed.

“”Everybody has been running very well,”” Lagat said. “”I think we will have potential to, if not win, be close to it.””

Lagat said the team’s confidence will compress any building nerves.

“”We had pressure going into Pre-Nationals, and we didn’t do too bad, so that just gives us more belief that we can do well this weekend,”” Lagat said. “”It’s not that there’s more pressure this race, it’s that there’s more motivation to compete well against top teams.””

An important factor Lagat mentioned was closing the gap between the first and last Wildcat runners to cross the finish line.

“”Before the season, we set a goal to have a time difference of no more than 45 seconds between our first and fifth runner,”” Lagat said. “”Even though we’ve met that goal, we feel that we have to be even closer and be up there together.””

Lagat said the team also needs to go back to the basics of running.

“”We have to run and work hard,”” Lagat said. “”This is a very important race, but it’s also going to be very exciting.””