The Boston University men's cross country team will compete at the Patriot League Championship this Saturday at Lafayette. The race is scheduled to start at 12 p.m.
 
BU, picked third in the preseason poll, has been impressive in four races this season. The Terriers have won two of those events, including the CCSU Mini Meet this past weekend. They also finished fourth at the New England Championship on Oct. 8. BU finished second at last year's event and will look to win its first conference title since 2010.
 
One reason for the Terriers' strong 2016 has been the emergence of freshman Paul Luevano. The Los Angeles native has two victories under his belt in addition to a third-place showing at New Englands.
 
"You don't usually think of freshmen as being super competitive, but Paul has broken that rule, thankfully. He's a heck of a talent," head coach Bruce Lehane said. Paul has a great finish; don't think anyone can close as fast as he can over the final 400. But I wouldn't want to put that pressure on him as a freshman."
 
Lehane also highlighted two other freshmen – Brett Davidson and Greg Pelose – as rookies who were running competitively. Pelose has two top-15 finishes this season in addition to a 29^th-place performance at a deep New England Championship field. Davidson finished third at the Nassaney Invitational and has an additional top-15 finish to his name.
 
Three veterans are expected to be among the scorers on Saturday, including reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Meet Alexander Seal. Seal was second last week at CCSU in his best race of the season. He finished eighth overall at last year's conference championship.
 
"They're a competitive group," Lehane said of his young harriers. "I think we can more than hold our own."
 
Two other scorers from last year's second-place team – seniors Matti Groll and Ethan Homan - will be back for their final crack at cross country conference glory. Homan has one top-10 and two top-20 finishes this year while Groll was 17^th in his most recent race, the Rothenberg Run on Oct. 14.
 
"I don't think the team as a whole has run its best race, but we're moving towards it now.," Lehane said. "We might surprise a few people. I like our guys. I think they're going to run well."

In addition to competing for conference hardware, the Terriers will be looking to earn another point in the Turnpike Trophy competition against Holy Cross. The team that finishes highest will earn that coveted point. BU currently leads Holy Cross, 3-0.

Lineup
Ian Anderson
Cullin Burdett
Brett Davidson
Matti Groll
Ethan Homan
Johnny Kemps
Paul Luevano
Liam O'Connell
Greg Pelose
Zachary Prescott
Mitch Russo
Alexander Seal