Washington State University Athletics
Washington State Cougars Official Athletic Site
November 29, 2009
It's that time again when the rolling hills of the Palouse begin the next phase of angry weather with Mother Nature's favorite game: "Pin the Snow on the Students," (a game in which the WSU Cross Country teams are well accustomed to).
As the sniffles pile up and the cold weather creates thoughts hot chocolates and coffees in our minds, the WSU Cross Country team doubles up on the winter cloths and gears up for the championship races. Coming off a great weekend in Indianapolis at the Pre-national invite, the Cougar spirits were high and excited to travel to the Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach California. Mother Nature, who swiftly delivered a bad case of sinus infections and colds around, hampered both the Cougar men's and women's teams. The men finished a disappointing 6th place, however a really bright spot for us was Mark Mohler's 17th place finish in a lifetime best time for 8,000 meters of 23:39.
The women also had a frustrating finish at Pac-10s, but aren't wasting time dwelling on the past. Both squads are looking forward to improving upon our seasons with solid showings at the NCAA West Regional cross country championships in Eugene Oregon in two weeks. Keep an eye out on those Cougs in the coming weeks because we're ready to ruffle the NCAA waters baby!
Captain Ahlbeck
GO Cougs
October 19, 2009
The Cougars ventured into the corn mazes of Terre Haute, Indiana, this past weekend to compete at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational. After a long trip of delays in Spokane, and circling over the Minneapolis airport, waiting for Vice President Joe Biden to depart so we could land and catch our connection, the Cougs received a rock star welcome by the Geib family in Indianapolis.
Redshirt junior, Dan Geib graciously invited the entire team over for a family dinner at his house. The team was served a complete dinner pre-race meal with ample amounts of candy corn and all the fixings. Dinner conversation was an animal uproar. Coach Pete was the advocate for the sea turtle, passionately debating why it was the best animal around. Athletes tried to counter the sea turtle argument, but found themselves unsuccessful. If anyone can think of a reason why a sea turtle is not the best animal, I suggest they take it up with Pete, but I will warn you to be ready to be proved wrong.
On race day, the men were clearly the WSU highlight running their way to an amazing seventh place finish in the Blue race. The Cougar men had a great day, working together to score 274 points, with only about a 20-seconds spread between the first and fifth scoring runners. The women had a less than best day placing 28th in the White race, however the glitter tattoos did help with the disappointment.
Competing at the University of Idaho, a group of Cougs battled the hills in an epic 5k for the women and 8k for the men. The team was happy to see sophomore Michelly Foley make her 2009 cross country debut, after battling injury since the start of the season.
The men's and women's teams' next stop will be the Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach, Calif., hosted by USC, on Oct. 30.
And remember, "There is no nutritional value in toothpaste" - Emily Farrar
Go Cougs!
Lisa Egami, women's team captain
October 14, 2009
Jack Frost has strolled into Pullman, and has cast his wintery spell over Pullman; but, as the weather cools down, the Cougars are just heating up.
After recovering from some great performances at the Roy Griak Invitational, the men's and woman's Cross Country Teams hit the ground running (no pun intended) upon their arrival back to the Palouse.
The past few weeks have been a lot of intense workout, and hard runs, preparing for Pre-Nationals this weekend. The new saying of Head Coach Pete Julian is "We train like Champions, we live like Champions" and this is exactly what we have been doing. The cold has not hindered these fine men and women in their training; after all, this is the weather of Terre Haute, Ind. in late November, when the NCAA Championships will take place.
With some solid training under our belts, the Cougs are ready to tear it up this weekend, and show the rest of the nation what we can do!
Go Cougs!
Lisa Egami, women's team captain
October 9, 2009
A few weeks ago, I received a call from an old high school teammate. He was interested in running in college, but seemed a little concerned.
"The increase in competition is a plus," he said. "But what's up with the schedule? You guys hardly race!"
The small amount of races is a major difference between high school cross country and college cross country. In high school, races occur every weekend. In college, runners lace up their spikes and compete every two or three weeks.
One might hear that and assume that because of the smaller amount of races, college running is "easier." That person could not be more wrong! The reason for the low amount is simple. College (particularly NCAA Division I) races aren't simply "races." College races are battles!
There is a reason they call them "meets" instead of "games." An old coach explained this pretty well. "In a game, you can stop in the middle," he said. "You can call a time out. You can take a breather. In a competition, you are there to compete, entirely, from start to finish."
Every runner in a college race is there because they deserve to be there. They center their lives around it. They lose sleep over it. They sacrifice social outings because of it. In their battle, they are there knowing the pain ahead and ready to embrace it in order to achieve personal and team glory.
With that being said, the weeks in between the meets aren't exactly a rest period. While many schools may use this time to maintain fitness, at Washington State we use this time to increase our fitness. From a training standpoint, we really "get after it."
Our new coach, Pete Julian, has instilled a different mindset into us. While many used to use the summer and early part of the season as our main training period, Coach Pete has focused on a high level of training from beginning to end.
For example, we are currently in a three week "break" between the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota and Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. While both meets are largely competitive and seem to require a large amount of tapering, we choose to not honor that notion. Instead, if anything, we are training harder than ever. Our workouts are more intense. Our pool work and strength workouts are more focused. And, most importantly, our lives outside of practice are more concentrated on living the life of a champion. Our coach takes pride in this strategy.
"Will we be the freshest team next weekend?" Coach Pete normally asks us a week or so before a meet. "No. But we will be the most fit."
Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute will be very excited. The scene at the beginning of the race is truly fascinating; the enormous amount of runners flocking from the sound of a gun and conversing among a narrower path within a minute or so is truly a sight to watch. As a freshman, I was completely star-struck when I toed the line against some of the best runners in the nation. This year, more than any other year, our team is looking to do more than just compete. We are out there to perform, and do better than any recent WSU team has done in Terre Haute.
Go Cougs!
Dan Geib, redshirt junior
Cougar men's cross country team
September 29, 2009
Emotion, instinct and hard work were the smells that reeked from our spikes and singlets after the weekend's battle at the Roy Griak Invitational. The highly anticipated cross country invite served as both the men's and women's proving ground for the summers training endeavors. A feeling of confidence circulated throughout WSU cross country team as we prepared and toed the starting lines this weekend. We have been instructed and lead by our coach (Coach Julian) to run with purpose, and this past weekend on a golf course in Minnesota it was evident in our eyes that our purpose is to win.
The Men's team proved their metal with a 5th place finish and an overall team score of 108. "This race was a drastic improvement from the year before, we cut out score in half from last year and we were only 37 points out of first," said team member Dan Geib. In addition to the men's team, the women also displayed the same strong racing purpose with their best finish in school history at the Roy Griak Invite.
The women who raced tough on the rolling 6k course were 5th overall, and showed impressive signs of great things to come. As a runner it is always fun to see your friends' race well because we understand how hard we all work. For me, the highlight was witnessing Chelsea VanDeBrake return to the hard racer we all have learned to respect.
The next stop for the Cougars will be in Indianapolis (Terre Haute) where we will be competing at the prestigious Pre-National meet against many top-ranked teams. Be on the lookout for both the WSU men's and women's teams to turn some heads and make some waves on the national scene.
-And remember Go Cougs!
Captain Ahlbeck
September 18, 2009
Its 7:30 a.m. on a crisp, sunny Monday morning. The comfort of our beds and quiet of our houses are abruptly interrupted by the explosions of various alarm clocks waking some of the hardest working people I've ever met. This is Washington State Cross Country. All over Pullman, both the men's and women's teams roll out of their beds, throw on their running gear and briefly enjoy those last few sleepy minutes of preparation before the work begins. As the team congregates next to the steeple barrier (my favorite place on the track, as it's my event during track season), Coach Julian greets us with a smile and explains the expectations of the day's objectives.
Aside from our men's major obsession with watching professional football on Sunday mornings, there isn't any other place we would rather be than right here getting ready for the NCAA Championship.
Coach Julian, although small in stature, exhibits the personality and confidence that becomes contagious within our tight-knit gang of running hooligans. Junior distance runner and enormous Patriots fan Daniel Geib praised our new fearless leader. "I see Coach Pete Julian doing great things for us, like when Bill Belichick won three super bowls in four years with the Patriots," Geib said.
Both men's and women's teams are excited and are anticipating great results from the upcoming trip to Minnesota at the Roy Griak Invitational. When Coach Julian first arrived in Pullman, he delivered a clear message to the team that we carry on every run. "Our sights are set on the NCAA Championship," Julian said. "We will be there in November."
The plan is simple, and the task is difficult, but without fear we will face the season's adversities with a purpose, and the knowledge that we have been made ready for all things to come.
Go Cougs!
Men's Captain Sam Ahlbeck
September 7, 2009
Hi There!
Things are looking good for the WSU Cross Country teams for the 2009 season. We kicked off the season with the Clash of the Inland Northwest this past weekend. Like usual, the crowds at Mead High School, Spokane, were out of control in anticipation to see the Cougs in action. Spokane native, Courtney Zalud had her fan club arriving by the busload, while fellow freshman Alyssa Andrews had her fan club trek over from the Westside to cheer her on.
New head coach, Pete Julian, got the woman's team ready and fired up with his pre-race speech.
"Anything goes here. If there's a good tackle and you wind up DQ'ed, it's still a win to me! Don't be afraid to get aggressive!"
This speech sparked to life the re-occurring nightmare of sophomore, Emily Farrar. The re-occurring nightmare of full contact cross country race.
The gun was fired and the race was off. 4km, 16.5 minutes of a new type of cross country. One by one, the Cougs picked off their competition, until it was just Cougars left to battle it out. With 300m left in the race, the crowds were in an uproar. Coming down the home stretch Chelsea and I were in a race to the death. With a swift elbow to the temple (like her race freshman year at UCLA) she was seeing stars, and I was able to lean at the line and take the win. The next pack of Cougs was a whirlwind of fists flying and hair pulling, as they battled to the finish.
The meet was a success, both teams posting victories while giving Coug fans a sneak peak at bigger and better things to come. Next stop? Roy Griak Invitational, MN.
Go Cougs!
Lisa Egami, women's team captain
November 24, 2008
2008 Cougar Cross Country Post-Season
While Old Man Winter has begun to show his grumpy face and wave a threatening finger at the Northwest over the last few weeks, the WSU cross country teams have shaken their collective fist right back at Mother Nature and continued to hit the roads and track. For runners, this ominous transition of weather usually marks the start of the post-season cross country races. For better or worse, the legacy of teams and individuals are based on their performances at the conference, regional, and national meets. In other words, these competitions determine whether a Cougar runner goes down in the WSU history books as a "hell of a student-athlete," or a "hell of a student-athlete. Woo!"
First up for the teams was the Pac-10 Conference meet on Halloween. Costumes of Sarah Palin were not necessary to generate fear in Eugene, Oregon, on this day, since the strongest collegiate cross country conference in the nation displayed a downright scary level of competition. Five of the eight men's teams were currently ranked nationally in the top 25, including No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Stanford. While the Cougars thought about how to generate some Halloween trickery of their own, the first bit of adversity struck before the team could even leave Pullman. The bus sent to the team of 20 runners and 4 coaches for the 8-hour drive seated only 20 total people. Thus, a logical process of elimination was employed in order to cut down the number of travelers. Three hours later, the four losers of the customary "Rock, Paper, Scissors" tournament were dismissed. Finally, freshman Jono Lafler was stuffed in the overhead compartment in order to comfortably accommodate Sam Ahlbeck's huge sub sandwich, and the teams departed. Two days later, the Cougs lined up against many of the nation's best runners. Fired up by a strong performance earlier from the Cougar women, the men were confident enough to offer a distinct head start to the rest of the field. The team then competed fiercely, perhaps a bit too fiercely in the early stages of the 8 kilometer race, and settled for a mediocre 6th place finish. A break-out performance from Spokane transfer Mark Moeller was the bright spot, and the Cougars set their sights on improving their overall performance at the West Regional meet two weeks later.
The NCAA West Regional meet offered no relief from intense competition, as two additional top-30 teams (including No. 4 Portland) and hundreds of talented runners were mixed in with the Pac-10 teams to create a volatile concoction of slight young men in shorts and singlets. The pressure is always especially high at this meet, as the race results determine the privileged few teams individuals that get to advance to the NCAA national meet. Once again, the Cougars entered the race as a team on the bubble with an outside shot of making it to the big race as a team, and a few individuals that faced a realistic opportunity of qualifying on their own. When the Cougars arrived in Palo Alto, California, still bundled up in jackets, scarves, mittens, and animal skins, they were greeted by the record-breaking high temperatures of the area that penetrated their parkas to the point of delusion. The numerous suntanned runners from California and Arizona were surely blinded by the glare from David Hickerson's sun-deprived torso as everyone previewed the course on the day before the race. Whether the hot, foreign sun contributed to an overall disappointing performance the next day is not known for sure, but the unfortunate fact is that the goal of NCAA qualification was not attained by any WSU runners or teams this time. As a senior who had dedicated himself to this goal, worked very hard at it for several years, and began to see some very promising results, this ending was very difficult to accept. However, as an observer who has gotten to know this young and talented team very well, I look forward to living vicariously through WSU cross country in the future. Overall, this season was a very positive experience for me and that is why I am sad to see it come to an end. Up until the last day, I enjoyed every minute of it, including documenting it with nonsensical blog entries. I would be excited, but not the least bit surprised, to see this program among the nation's elite in the very near future!
Go Cougs!
Drew Polley
Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana
"Terre Haute? You must mean Terrible Hut. I feel sorry for you! I spent five years at ISU and never got used to the putrid smells of the town."
- A proud Indiana State Alumnus at the Indianapolis airport
Residents of Terre Haute, Indiana, look forward to leaving the corn fields and strip malls of this college town for the American Dream of baseball fields and bigger strip malls. Meanwhile, collegiate cross country runners throughout the country strive for the elusive opportunity to invade Hoosier Country in mid-November for the NCAA Championships meet. For most teams, an important step toward realizing this goal is competing in the NCAA Pre-National meet, which is held on the same course at ISU. This renowned course, built exclusively for cross country is, in fact, garbage. Actually, the course is a network of grass trails that cover a former waste disposal site. Hence, the adage: "One man's trash is another's cross country course." This week the WSU men's and women's cross country teams descended upon Terre Haute to join most of the top 80 teams in the country in making their bids for the honor of returning to this Promise Land in mid-November as one of the top 31 teams.
The sheer magnitude of participation in the Pre-National meet creates an impressive spectacle. The sight of over 40 seven-person teams sprinting from the starting line bears a striking resemblance to the battle scenes of Braveheart, if William Wallace and his fellow Scots had shown more of their legs and taken a couple of weeks off from eating. Of course, the sheer idea of such a stacked race can be very intimidating for freshmen runners. For example, WSU freshman Emily Farrar began to have such overwhelming second thoughts while traveling that she attempted an escape by leaving her possessions, wallet, and ID behind on the plane. It was certainly a clever attempt, but after Emily was given a thorough search, interrogation, verbal abuse, and was added to the national terrorist watch list, she was reluctantly pushed through security.
As the teams awoke the next morning in a more serious disposition and filled the team vans with pre-race anxiety, it became apparent that Emily Farrar was not the only terrorist in Indiana that day. Some of the van tires had been slashed, almost certainly by a Pac-10 foe (UW? ASU?) looking to cheat their way past the formidable WSU squads. Luckily, the race course was only about 50 miles from the hotel, and the superior foot speed of the WSU runners allowed us to run the distance to the course as an extended warm-up jog, with time and energy to spare. After watching the Cougar Women tie for 16th place, the men claimed 17th place in their own race. Despite another brilliant performance by "Hollywood" Ahlbeck that surely expanded his appeal to Middle America, the men fell just short of their team goals. Although we failed to advance our case for a national ranking this week, we remain hopeful and motivated for the upcoming post-season meets. After all, we are fresh off a victory over terrorism.
Go Cougs!
Drew Polley
A Great Weekend
Last year neither the men's nor the women's team went to the Montana Invitational but instead ran at the Roy Griak Invitational. This year only the men's team got to go to Griak, which is a big meet with many good runners. I must admit that I was a little disappointed when I heard that the women's team was going to Montana this year. The decision to go and run at Montana, a smaller meet, instead of going to Griak came to be a smart decision. Our weekend in Montana was full of both success and team bonding.
The course in Montana is located on a beautiful golf course and loops around back and forth, which makes it easy for spectators to follow the race. The race was a little shorter than usual, 5k instead of the normal 6k. The smaller size of the meet and the shorter course made it possible for us to practice hard close up to the meet and not take much time off to rest before the race. Since we have more important meet coming up, starting a week from now, it was good to be able to train through this last weekend's race.
The team did very well and everyone on the team did what they were supposed to do. Before the start of the race we were all given a Montana runner to try to beat, which we all managed to do. Unfortunately the Montana team did not have their number one runner race which was a little disappointing for us since we felt ready to race their best team. As you all probably already know we took places one through five and also seventh, ninth and eleventh place.
On the way back, after this great race, Coach Drake took us to some hot springs. After about a one mile hike we reached the extremely warm hot springs. For me and for many other of my teammates this was a new experience and we all enjoyed it very much. The water was almost too hot but it was very relaxing for both the head and the body. It was also a good bonding time for the team; we got to do something together that was not running.
This really was a great weekend! We raced well, we had a good time together and I think the trip was very much relaxing. The drive back was gorgeous and had some of the most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen. Most of the drive there were no cell phone reception and we got some studying done. Finally back in Pullman we felt ready to start working towards our next meet which is Pre-Nationals in Indiana a week from Saturday.
Go Cougs!
Sara Trané
For the first real test of their 2008 cross-country campaign, the WSU Cougars traveled last weekend to the land of 10,000 lakes, one giant shopping mall, and plenty of goofy accents.
Of course, another important feature of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the renowned Roy Griak Cross Country Invitational. As usual, the race featured an intimidating lineup of collegiate squads, including several ranked nationally in the top 30, looking to make their case for a trip to the exclusive NCAA meet in November. Over a hilly 8k course that torched leg muscles and tested gumption, the Coug runners were finally able to attract some attention for reasons besides their comely appearance in a singlet. A breakout race from steeplechase hooligan Sam "Hollywood" Ahlbeck, as well as clutch performances by newcomers Mark "Corn Pops" Moeller, Justin "Wunderkind" Englund and Jono "Smash Brother" Lafler paved the way for a 6th place team finish ahead of 15th-ranked New Mexico and Pac-10 rival Arizona State.
Several WSU competitors swore that they were pushed over the tough finishing stretch by a friendly but firm kick to the bum from the ghost of injured veteran runner Dan Geib. Whatever the case may be, the collective effort was enough to move WSU up one place in the West Regional rankings and earn some top-30 votes from the national coaches' poll during the following week. Overall, the WSU Cougars were satisfied with their efforts, but had yet to realize that their challenges that day were far from over.
With a daunting 6 hours remaining before the flight from Minneapolis to Spokane was scheduled to leave, Coach Jason Drake led his depleted gladiators to their next arena: the Mall of America. Clearly, the WSU student-athletes were ready to do their part to save the critically wounded U.S. economy. The shopping marathon got off to a promising start, as tired legs did not discourage the Cougs from a quick pace toward the food court. Wads of cash were soon replaced with feelings of marginal satiety and indigestion, and then the group was ready to face the next several hours of the grueling ordeal. Spirited romps through sporting goods stores quickly faded into half-hearted browsing and people-watching, and before long we began to lose stragglers from the pack. David Hickerson was lured into Lego Land to race cars against 8-year-olds, Luke Lemenager disappeared somewhere near SpongeBob's fast food joint and Peter Miller was distracted by a man in a Pokemon costume.
Before long, I shuffled to a bench and firmly planted my tired gluteus. Time stood still, and I wondered if I would ever find the motivation to stand up and find closure for this shopping experience. Eventually, I looked in the direction of the exit and spotted a powerful incentive. The Brookstone store, full of massage chairs waiting for a butt as tired as mine, loomed near my destination. I stood up and started my final push. As my labored stride carried me toward salvation, I realized that this would not be an easy victory. My competition took the form of an overweight, middle-aged woman sporting sweat pants and a determined look in her eyes, which were focused on the only open chair in the store. I pulled up even with my newfound rival with a strained effort and exchanged menacing glares with her. My adrenaline flowed, but it could not mask the burn in my legs as the lactic acid built up. As we reached the entry, I realized it was time to make a defining move. My strained facial muscles formed an unconvincing smile, my legs came to a stop, I held out my arm with a friendly gesture, and forfeited the seat to my elder counterpart. As I walked out of the mall, I reflected that although my muscles and the U.S. economy were still hurting, the dignity of the WSU Cougars remained intact.
Go Cougs!
Drew Polley
A year ago I was watching JD set up cones for Tuesday workouts, getting up at 6 a.m. for weights, thinking about how I was going to mange a race with 300+ women, and feeling myself getting faster with each workout.
Today, I'm setting up the cones, getting up at 6 a.m. to run with the women who can't make practice, trying to explain how you run a college race to the freshmen, and every workout seeing how much these women are improving.
The transition from the athlete world to the coaching world - or student assisting - has been quite the experience. Every day I seem to learn some new part of a sport I have been doing for 10 years. As athletes we forget that there are more aspects to coaching than just making workouts and sending us out on runs. We forget about the recruiting, the travel arrangements, meet entries, who is going to what meets, injuries, and paperwork that seems to pile up. I feel very privileged to be in this position. I am able to see what JD doesn't have time to do and fill in those gaps to hopefully make this team better.
I'm excited about this upcoming season. I've seen where most of these women have come from, experienced what they'll be going through, and know where they want to go. This weekend at Sundodger they will show up ready to race and excited to finally get their season under way. It will be a good introduction, to our freshmen, of college racing and a good tune up for bigger races for the returners. It will be weird not getting on the line alongside the women this weekend but, I'm excited to watch them compete and cheer them on!!!
GO COUGS!!!
Collier Lawrence, Student Asst. Coach
WSU letterwinner 2004-08
First Meet: Clash of the Inland NW 9/06
The intense worldwide hunger for WSU Cougar Cross Country was finally satiated this weekend, as the men's and women's teams laced up their spikes for the Clash of the Inland Northwest. Neither the race's questionable location of a high school sports field nor the fact that the Cougs raced at less than full strength deterred the masses of rabid XC fans. The meet was held in the running Mecca of Spokane, Washington, where runners are treated like rock stars and stadiums are neglected in favor of tracks and cross country courses. Furthermore, this event marked the homecoming of Spokane celebrities David Hickerson, Peter Miller, Dan Renz, Steve Hicks, Jason Stoker, and Jayson "JT" Taylor, who now compete for WSU. On the way to the course, it may have appeared that the WSU team van drivers became lost and followed an unnecessarily long route to the course. However, the reality was that the hype surrounding this season debut created such a commotion that the drivers had to improvise an alternate itinerary in order to avoid the city-wide traffic congestion. It is indeed true that fame has a downside.
As soon as the iconic white vans pulled into the Mead High School parking lot, they were immediately surrounded by the notoriously raucous cross-country fans of the Pacific Northwest. Men and women alike screamed wildly and craned their necks for glimpses of the Cougar runners, especially the Spokane natives. Young females held homemade signs pleading for Steve Hicks' hand in marriage, while JT received enough cat calls to make Justin Timberlake jealous. It also appeared that Dan Renz was struck by several women's undergarments as he made his way toward the course. A couple hours later, the same fans were disappointed when Peter Miller opted not to don his infamous speedo for the start of the race, but were consoled by the sight of the team's small, flashy shorts and singlets.
The starter's gun was barely audible over the roar of the crowd. Nonetheless, the men in crimson scampered to the front of the pack, eager to test themselves against the finest athletes that Gonzaga, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Idaho have to offer. The slight twist was that the majority of the Cougar men did not compete in a WSU uniform in order to preserve eligibility, and our veteran members ran at a relaxed pace that simulated the effort of a standard workout. Of course, these variations did not bother the legions of loyal fans, who were perfectly satisfied with the rare opportunity to witness the grace of these small-but-finely-tuned athletic machines in live action. Upon reflection, this race was a successful outing that showcased the deep talent pool of the Cougar's overwhelmingly large freshmen class. Rookies Jono Lafler and Justin Englund stood out with especially strong performances. Eventually, the teams boarded the vans and navigated their way back through the commotion, trading the Cougar Cross Country mania of Spokane for the Cougar Football mania of Pullman. As we drove, I couldn't help but wonder what would come of this University if football games were to attract nearly as many fans as cross country.
Go Cougs!
Drew Polley
The day has finally come!
This Saturday, September 6th, is the day that all cross-country fans have been waiting for. This is the official start of the cross country season, 2008. This is the day when the Washington State University's cross country teams will have their first race of the year.
Our preparation for this day did not start when we all got back to Pullman three weeks ago. For many of us it started as early as in June. I would like to call this first part of our preparation, before coming back to school, phase 1. To many, this is the hardest time of the whole year to get motivated and go out and run. You might not have anyone to run with and you do not have any coach who is expecting you at practice. It is all on you! If you decide not to stay focused and run the next phase is going to be really hard.
Phase 2 starts when we get back into running with the team. Now, it will become obvious who did not run over the summer and who did a great job running their many miles. The question whether one has been preparing enough will not be answered in total until the racing starts though. Practicing and racing is not the same and therefore the third phase starts this Saturday with our first meet, where we will be able to compete against runners from other teams.
What it important to keep in mind is that this weekend is only the very beginning of the third phase, which will continue until the NCAA Championships in the middle of November. This first race is more about feeling good, getting into race-pace and for the freshmen's competing on a college level for the first time. Therefore, the race is shorter, only 4 km instead of 6 km, and will be paced by returners. This is especially good for the freshmen since they do not have to worry about anything but just try to hang in there as long as possible.
So what answers will this first race give us? Fitness-wise, it will probably not tell us anything that we did not know based on what we have done at practice but it might tell us something about our mental stage. Are we able to do what we know we can do at practice and a little bit more, in a race-situation? In this third phase we have to learn and get used to fighting all the way till the finish line and to not let any one pass us. After this weekend we will continue our training with more intervals and more race similar work-outs, which will not only make us stronger but also prepare us mentally for the upcoming bigger races.
Go Cougs!!!
Sara Trané
Team Camp according to WSU men's captain Drew Polley:
Today the WSU men's and women's cross country teams, complete with 15 impressionable freshmen guys and a few new women as well, headed to Idaho for another unpredictable weekend of team camp that lived up to its reputation as the second best opportunity to see underdressed 20-year-olds run wild and confuse small-town locals.
The trip got off to a rocky (and muddy) start. On the way to our destination, we stopped at McCroskey State park in Idaho for an easy run, and the older members of the team were upset to learn the once-beautiful trails have been ravaged by the logging industry and turned into mud roads, crowded with trucks and tractors. We sucked it up and went about our business, but not without incident. My duties as a captain were called into action when a couple members of the women's team, who will remain anonymous, failed to return to the vans. Inspired equally by Batman and Spiderman, I sprinted back down the trail for a few miles while fending off several small furry animals which I'm pretty sure were grizzly bears and moose. I finally reached Chelsea VanDeBrake and Jessica Crannell, who were disoriented and cornered by creepy, disheveled loggers. I promptly scared away the burly men with a sharp stick and a stunning display of kung-fu. During the commotion, one of the girls had seriously wounded her knee and the other was hopelessly dazed, so I put one over each shoulder and scampered the 15 (approx.) miles back up the hill in time to save Jessica's leg from amputation. Lunch in Coeur d'Alene and a dip in the lake seemed to lift everyone's spirits after a frustrating run.
We lodged in Kellogg, Idaho that night at the Silver Mountain Resort, which included an indoor water park and condos that were much too fancy for a bunch of dirty, rowdy runners hopped up on ice cream and coffee. The water slides and swimsuit-removing wave pool at the park provided almost as many thrills as the sight of Peter Miller in a speedo. I suppose you can't expect too much from an indoor water park at the top of a mountain. That night, the teams bonded over ludicrous amounts of food while watching former Coug Bernard Lagat mix it up in the Olympic 5k. Rumor has it that a handsome young rock band, eerily resembling some of our own male runners strumming brooms, plungers and an ironing board, performed a private concert in one of the rooms.
On Sunday morning, everyone departed for our weekly Sunday long run. Today we ran the Hiawatha Trail, a 15 mile uphill path through a system of tunnels. The twist was that helmets and flashlights were required the whole way. So at 8 a.m. somewhere in Montana, a large group of gaunt, shaggy-haired men scurried up a mountain wearing nothing more than tiny shorts and helmets. I expect that every mental hospital in the area was inventoried that morning. One particularly helpful local informed us that we were a bit on the skinny side, while another implored what had happened to the rest of my shorts. Three of our freshmen never emerged from the 1.6 mile tunnel at the end, but everyone was hungry for lunch by that time so we decided to give a nod to natural selection, cut our losses, and head back to Pullman.
My memory concerning some of the events this weekend may be a bit hazy, but I can honestly say that, overall, I am impressed with the newcomers and veterans on this team, and am excited for a great season as things start to get more serious. Look for big things from this group in the coming years as well. I am a little tired from running 20 miles uphill with a helmet and flashlight, so I will call it a night.
Go Cougs!
Drew Polley
