LOGAN, Utah - While the Northern Arizona University men's and women's cross country teams enter the NCAA Mountain Regionals at different ranks, the outcome of Friday's meet at the Reeder Cross Country Course remains the same for both squads.

Become eligible for the NCAA National Championships.

The men enter the regional meet as the No. 1 team in the nation, a spot that have held for all seven USTFCCCA polls this year, a program record for longest tenure in the top spot for a season. Dating back to last year, NAU has sat atop the nation rankings for a school record 13-straight weeks.

The men's squad has been as close to perfect as possible this year, earning victories in all four of their meets, including winning the Big Sky conference title. NAU has recorded four top-five finishes at the NCAA meet in the past five years, including last season's national championship and will look to add to that impressive resume with a strong showing at Friday's regionals.

The unit is all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA's as long they put up another strong showing, but that doesn't mean they aren't taking things seriously, especially with meeting No. 2 BYU for the first time this season.

"I think it's easy to downplay this meet when you're ranked No. 1 in the country and we just have to make sure we don't do that," Director of Cross Country Michael Smith said. "I think it's a great chance to continue our process, and we have to take our competition serious here. Our eye can still be on the national meet, but this is an important piece of our season. We're going to practice some elements that we are going to apply a week from now at the NCAAs, and focus on moving through this step."

The men will be running its top team of Matt Baxter, Tyler Day, Geordie Beamish, Andrew Trouard, Peter Lomong, Harvey Nelson and Cory Glines.

The women appeared in the national rankings for the first time since 2009 back on Oct. 17 and enter the regionals as the No. 29 team in the country. To go with their own Big Sky Championships, the group has also had strong showing at Pre-Nationals and the Greater Louisville Classic. The NAU women are trying to reach the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2008.

While figuring out the men's chances at the national meet are relatively easy, the women's squad faces a much more complicated path.

With 18 automatic bids for the top two finishers in each region, another 13 schools will reach the NCAA meet through at-large bids. Finishing in the top two won't be an easy task for the NAU women with No. 1 Colorado and No. 2 New Mexico also racing in the regional meet. No. 15 Utah State and No. 18 BYU are also competing in one of the stronger regionals in the country, with it being just one of three regions with at least five top-30 squads.

Northern Arizona will also be keeping its eyes on Baylor, hoping that they earn an automatic bid as they currently sit as the No. 4 in the South Central which would put some teams ahead of the Lumberjacks out of the way to qualifying. The formula for at-large bids grants schools points for beating other teams during the regular season, meaning outside influences during the slate of regionals could push NAU in or out, even with a strong showing on Friday.

"Like the men, on the women's side we are also really focused on our process," Smith said. "It's important that we're thinking about the elements that will go into us running a great team race. We're going to give the girls some position assignments, they are going to have clear places on the course to stay engaged and to attack. Those are all pieces of the process and they're focused on that. The outcome will take of itself. We can't do anything different at this meet, we have to do what we have been doing all season long. It's what has gotten us here."

The women will be sending out its top unit of Paige Gilchrist, Mikayla Malaspina, Miranda Myers, Kylie Goo, Emily Roughan, Pipi Eitel and Delaney Rasmussen as they look to become the first Big Sky school to make the national meet since Weber State in 2015.

The women's 6-kilometer race will start at 10:15 a.m., followed by the men's 10-kilometer run at 11:15 a.m.

Another important thing to remember about the regionals and NCAA Championships is that the athletes are running longer distances than usual. The men will run 10,000 meters compared to the 8,000 that they have ran in earlier events this year. The women will run 6,000 meters, which is 1,000 more than previous meets.

"We did a session last week at a little lower elevation in Sedona that really showed the teams are rested and sharp and exactly where they are suppose to be right now," Smith said. "We designed it around this week the whole year and they are right on schedule."

"This is the part of the season we prepared for all season," Smith added. "It's a mental, emotional and physical thing, and both sides are exactly where we want to be."