Crowded, alone and fighting a 17-below windchill made the 2000 NCAA Championships a race Rachel Evjen would like to forget.

“Last year was probably the worst year to go,” Evjen said. “It was absolutely the coldest you could ask for — definitely not real.”

After being the first NU runner to advance to nationals, Evjen finished right in the middle of a 252-runner field. Longing for another shot at the race, Evjen said the pressure is on — for both herself and the team — to perform well in Saturday’s Midwest Regional Championships in Carbondale, Ill.

“Ideally, I would love to win nationals as a team,” she said. “It would be a disappointment for me to not make it to nationals.”

The Wildcats came up short last year in the Midwest Regional by placing fourth and narrowly missing an at-large bid to the NCAAs — which instead went to North Carolina State, a team they beat earlier that season. In order for the Cats to advance to nationals, this year’s squad has to finish in the top two or gain one of the 13 at-large bids given to teams in a division. The Midwest Regional is one of nine races being conducted around the country this weekend to determine who will run in the NCAAs on Nov. 21.

A pre-race scouting report ranked the Cats fourth in Saturday’s race, but Evjen said the chances of advancing to nationals with a fourth-place finish are slim, considering the quality of the teams competing.

“The thing is our region is weaker than it has been in the past,” Evjen said. “(The NCAA selection committee) usually takes at least one team in every region, but I don’t think that they will take a fourth-place team to go for our region this year.”

Despite a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the Cats don’t have to worry much about Big Ten teams. Only Minnesota will compete in the race. Big 12 make up most of the competition in the regional.

“I have no idea what it’s going to be like,” Evjen said. “We’re all very excited and I think we kind of know where we were at this time last year. It’s on our minds and there is a chance that we can do this.”

With the fate of the Cats’ season dependent upon Saturday’s results, sophomore Emily Blakeslee said the improvement this year’s team has shown gives it confidence heading into the race.

“A lot of the runners have stepped up,” she said. “(Freshman) Diana (Hossfeld) coming in has been great, and the team is working really hard. I’m very impressed at how things have been working.”

Blakeslee was one of NU’s top five runners last season but has not competed this year because of a foot injury during the summer. She will undergo surgery on Nov. 20 and hopes to be back before the start of next season.

Sophomore Nora Colligan, who ran with Blakeslee in high school, said the goal for the Midwest Regional is simple — running the best race possible.

“I think we all know what we have to do,” Colligan said. “We are going to try as hard as we can to put ourselves in a position to qualify for the national meet.”

If the Wildcats do not earn an NCAA bid, the team can still send runners to compete individually in the NCAAs. The top four runners of all the teams who do not advance to nationals get an automatic bid. Evjen received a bid last year by finishing in 11th place.

In her second season running at the collegiate level, Colligan said she knows what to expect this time around.

“I feel ready to compete,” Colligan said. “I want to help out the team as much as I can by running my best and giving it my all.”