WALTHAM, Mass. – A trip to Saint Leo, Fla. for the 2016 NCAA Division II Championships will be on the line when the Bentley University men's and women's cross country teams compete in the NCAA Division II East Regional at Hopkinton (N.H.) State Park Saturday.         

The 10,000-meter men's race will get underway at 11 am and the 6,000-meter women's race will follow at 12:15 pm.

The top three teams in both races will automatically qualify for the nationals, which will be held on Nov. 22. Also advancing will be the top three individuals who are not part of a qualifying team, as well as any others who finish in the top five.

The Bentley men, who qualified in 2012 and last year, will enter the regional ranked third in the East, behind American International and Stonehill College. The women, who'll be seeking their first trip to the nationals as a team since 2013, are ranked fifth, trailing Stonehill, Roberts Wesleyan, Assumption and Daemen. Two weeks ago, both Falcon teams finished third in the Northeast-10 Championships.

Bentley's lineup will include four runners who earned All-Region accolades a year ago following top 25 finishes. Senior Julia Morena (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) was 18th in the women's race last year while on the men's side, junior Ryan Cadorette (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) was 17th, senior Nik Haas (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey HS) was 20th and sophomore Cody Murphy (Dunbarton, N.H./Goffstown HS) was 22nd.

In the Northeast-10's last month, junior Graham Chapski (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich HS) led the Falcons with a ninth-place finish and Haas was next among Bentley runners in 25th. On the women's side, Morena was fourth and junior Courtney Loughnane (Canton/Canton HS) was 22nd.

Coach Kevin Curtin's teams are very familiar with the Hopkinton State Park course. The Falcons ran there during the Bruce Kirsh Cup in September and were also on the course twice last year,  for both the Kirsh Cup and the regional.