Last time the Syracuse women’s cross country team stepped foot in Terre Haute, Ind., for Nationals no one knew who they were. No one seemed to care.

Saturday, things will be much different.

The Orange women trek back to Terre Haute with the No. 15 ranking in the country, much more confidence and a target on their backs.

‘We know we are in the game this time,’ said junior Rebekah MacKay. ‘We are ranked way higher this time, or wait, we are actually ranked this time, whereas last year at this time nobody knew us. It is kind of fun to be taken seriously.’

Last November, the Orange was in Terre Haute, where it finished 28th out of 31 teams in Nationals. Though SU was ranked No. 25 in the country, the squad was relatively unknown to competitors and did not even expect much from itself.

This time around, the women will compete in Pre-Nationals against 18 of the top 30 teams in the nation. Washington, who is ranked No. 1 in the country, will run, along with other top teams, including Arizona State, Princeton, Florida and Notre Dame.

Though competition is fierce, coming off a second place showing in Madison, Wis., and earning the highest ranking in program history could place SU right up there with the top teams.

‘Last year, it was more of us being really excited to be on the National’s course because we dreamed of getting there,’ MacKay said. ‘Now we know we can do it.’

This weekend gives the Orange an opportunity to race against top teams and earn points that will go toward their national hunt.

However, the success the team has experienced all year puts them in a unique position.

‘Since the women ran so well at Wisconsin, that takes a little bit of the edge off of it being the end all be all,’ SU head coach Chris Fox said. ‘It is not the biggest meet in the world to us like it might have been when we started the season, but it is still important to run against great teams.’

Not only will the Orange have a chance to compete against the best, but it will have the opportunity to get acclimated to a course it hopes to finish its season at on Nov. 23.

The Division I National Championships are in Terre Haute again, and the Orange expect nothing less than a championship.

‘We have such a deep team this year,’ said Katie Hursey, a junior who finished first for the Orange in Wisconsin. ‘Everyone is working harder and doing harder workouts. We feel we can really be successful in the end.’

Such depth was certainly on display in Wisconsin two weeks ago. MacKay was hardly 100 percent, as she battled an illness all week leading up to the race.

MacKay did not finish in the top seven for the Orange, but the team stepped up and placed second in the meet, falling behind Duke by two points.

‘Just finishing the race was my biggest goal of that day,’ MacKay said. ‘To have the team still be so successful was exciting, and it also means we have more people to surprise later.’

With MacKay at ’90 percent’ this weekend, the team has a chance to make a statement.

‘I hope she is back,’ Fox said. ‘With her at 90 percent, it will help us tremendously. If we had that much of her at Wisconsin we would have won. It will definitely push us by a couple more teams.’

To prepare for Terre Haute, MacKay has slept a lot, eaten healthier and ran less at practice all week.

This week, her goal is loftier than getting through the race. MacKay hopes to finish with a better time than last year, when she finished in fifth place for the Orange with a time of 21:49.

The team finished 11th, another thing MacKay hopes to change.

‘We worked well as a team last year at this meet, but this year we are looking to win it,’ MacKay said. ‘Also I am extra motivated this weekend to prove to myself and everyone else I am back.’

restern@syr.edu