EVANSVILLE, Ind.—All season long, the University of Southern Indiana cross country team's primary goal has been to earn a spot on the podium at the NCAA II National Championships in November. The No. 11 Screaming Eagles will have that chance Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) when they compete at the national meet in Spokane, Washington.

In order to accomplish that goal, the Eagles need to be as close to perfect as possible as they must finish among the top four teams in the 23-team field. “We'll need to have four All-American finishes and a fifth man in the top 45-50 on Saturday in order to make a run at the podium,” Head Coach Mike Hillyard said.

The Eagles, who captured their seventh straight conference title last month, are coming off a second-place finish at the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships two weeks ago in Big Rapids, Michigan. Despite the finish, Hillyard knows his squad can be and must be better heading into Saturday's national meet.

“While our regional performance is not indicative of a team with podium potential, we know that we have the capacity to be in the hunt,” Hillyard said. “Michael Jordan has shown that he is capable of a top 15 finish and Brendan Devine and Dustin Emerick are both two-time All-Americans.”

Jordan is coming off third-place effort at the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships. He earned All-Midwest Region honors with his performance as did Devine, Emerick, Efrain Flores, and Michael Callison.

Devine, the GLVC Runner of the Year, became just the second men's runner in the program's history to earn All-Region honors four times on the cross country course when he finished 11th at the regional meet. Emerick was 13th, while Flores and Callison finished 23rd and 25th, respectively.

Both Emerick and Devine will be attempting to become the first three-time cross country All-American's in the program's history when they toe the line at the national meet Saturday. Emerick, who has battled through injury this season to earn All-GLVC accolades for the fourth straight year, was 28th at the NCAA II National Championships in 2009 and 2010, while Devine was 31st in 2010 and 39th in 2009. All-America status is awarded to the top 40 finishers.

“Dustin is the x-factor for us,” Hillyard explained. “He has not shown the form that resulted in the 28:41 10k he ran last spring, but he is fit and very capable of a top 15-25 finish.”

USI's lineup Saturday will be rounded out by senior John Latta and freshman Tyler Pence. “John was our number three a year ago at the national meet and Tyler is healthy again after a sinus infection slowed him down at the regional meet two weeks ago,” Hillyard said.