By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 2014 NCAA West Regional cross country meet was bittersweet for Ryan Herson. He finished eighth with a time of 29:46.4, earning a spot in the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, but his Sun Devil teammates were not able to join him.

"When I found out I had made the meet I was excited, but at the same time it was tough because I knew we just missed it as a team," Herson said. "The last couple of years, we've been so close and haven't made it."

The Sun Devil men have not been to the NCAA meet since 2009; the women have not made it since 2011. There is a mood of resolve permeating the team this season as it looks to end those respective droughts.

"Just getting over that last little hump and being able to really finish the job and get to the meet is obviously one of our goals," Herson said.

It's no easy task in a sport where only 31 teams make the national meet due to constraints on the number of runners that can compete in a single race. The Sun Devils have the added difficulty of competing in what is likely the toughest of nine national regions.

"There's nowhere to hide," 15-year ASU coach Louie Quintana said. "You have to be on your game and ready to go but it's also great for recruiting and it raises the bar for expectations."

To that end, Quintana has chosen to shake up the team's normal early-season routine. Following the season-opening George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff on Saturday; and the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson on Sept. 18, Quintana has the Sun Devils headed to South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 2.

"Normally, we go to Minnesota and that plays to our strengths," he explained. "There are only certain things we can do here when it's really hot out so we manipulate our training accordingly. When we go to Minnesota, that course is hilly and works for us.

"We'll be out of our comfort zone at Notre Dame. It's a flat, fast course and I need for our group to experience that early. We have to take care of business during the season. That's one thing this team has struggled with. We've closed seasons well, peaking at the region championships, but in some of the earlier invitationals, we've struggled and that's hurt our chances at the end of the season."

The men's team has reason to expect a an NCAA bid this season. The No. 22 ranked Sun Devils return 17 runners, including Herson and fellow all-region performer, C.J. Albertson. Junior Bernie Montoya and redshirt seniors Ryan Norton and Daniel Wong will all be in the mix for the top spots. Redshirt freshmen Ryan Normand and John Reniewicki are also impressing in early-season workouts.

"It's a really good group where we should be able to mix and match who are going to be our top seven," Herson said.

On the women's side, the Sun Devils must overcome the loss of three-time All-American Shelby Houlihan, who wrapped her career with a ninth-place finish at the national meet last year. The Sun Devils were ranked among the nation's top 20 last season, but injuries and off-days doomed them in a sixth-place finish at the regional meet.

With a return to health and an influx of talented freshmen, led by National Foot Locker finalist Samantha Ortega, the Sun Devils should have improved depth over last year's squad that relied too heavily on Houlihan. Ortega is a likely candidate for the No. 1 spot, but senior all-region performer Adriana Olivas is also in the mix. Olivas finished 20^th at the region meet last season despite a shin injury that hampered her half of the season and resulted in a stress reaction during track season.

Senior Cristina Juan Torres, juniors Jenna Maack, Chelsey Totten and a cast of talented freshmen are making early-season workouts competitive.

"Some of these girls are running 80 miles a week which is a lot for being so young," Olivas said. "They're doing really well and that will help them get to the level where we need them to be a lot quicker. I think we're going to surprise a lot of teams this year."