For many teams, these past few weeks of the collegiate cross country season have served as an opportunity to continue heavy training, rest top athletes, and not race all-out. Though, as the leaves begin to change and the days get cooler, we inch closer and closer to the heart of the season. The time has come to start racing hard, compete head-to-head against rival teams, and this past weekend, many teams followed that advice and showed their stuff. On Saturday, quite a few New England squads fled the region and headed down to the renowned Van Cortland Park (VCP) for the 20th Annual Iona Meet of Champions. For those who have never raced at VCP, it is truly a hallowed and grueling one-hundred-year-old course. It’s a course that has hosted hundreds of dual meets, a USATF championship, Foot Locker Regionals, NCAAs, and the largest high school cross country meet in the country—the Manhattan College Invitational.