Among things that occurred on the women’s cross country team in the week leading up to Saturday’s Irvine Invite: a tumble, courtesy of Cora Webber.

It wasn’t one of her finer moments to date, nor will it be a factor when she and her teammates go to compete amid the likes of Mt. SAC, Fullerton and Riverside, the favorites to win.

“I was going downhill during my cool-down period, fell and scraped myself up a little bit,” Webber said of the accident. “But I’ll be OK. I’m just happy it happened during an off week.

“Being off this last week makes us crave going back out there more.”

EC will line up with most, if not all of the teams from the South Coast Conference and non-conference teams mid morning at Irvine Regional Park and dig in for a longer (3.3 miles) course than usual.

And, as the runners did two weeks ago, with winning the Golden West title for the second straight year, they’re poised take the title at Irvine for the second time in as many years.

“We hope we can win it this year,” said sophomore Evelyn Lopez. “And by having a week off, we can hopefully take advantage (by being rested).”

To date, the team has claimed two titles in its three races, winning the Ventura Inviational in the season opener and Golden West. The second invitational at Cuesta College rendered unfamiliarity, with more than 30 teams to the efforts more stringent.

With that taken, the team hopes to be better prepared Nov. 6, the day of the South Regional Championships, given that it advances from the South Coast Conference Championships Oct. 30.

Webber, the most outspoken member of the team, and who was there for and a boost to the team’s success last season, has compared this squad to the other, as well as underscored the differences.

“It’s a lot more challenging than last year,” she said, “but we’re very close to one another so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We thrive off of each other’s moods and we know we have to have some bad days to make the good days even better.

“So we know that we going to have some hiccups along the way…

“We know that we want to win and we know what it takes. “It’s like dangling a carrot in front of us and we’re tearing it up.”