After both teams performed well at the All-Ohio Championship a couple of weeks ago, the Bobcats will look to race as a team and make a statement at the Pre-Nationals
In one of the most high-paced meets this season, the Ohio University cross country teams plan to slow things down early in Saturday’s Pre-Nationals meet and race more as a pack.
Several of the runners on the team said that they want to focus more on running as a team, facing hundreds of schools around the country in Terre Haute, Indiana.
“Honestly I just want to run with my teammates and have them bring me through and bring each other through,” junior Jake Gentile said.
Gentile knows that the team runs much better together and he is not using this meet for personal success but success as a whole.
Not only does junior Kurt Steinmuller want to focus on the team, he is also making an early statement for the Mid-American Conference Championships coming up next week.
“I hopefully want to beat most of the MAC teams and bring our regional rank up into the top 10,” he said.
Steinmuller also feels there is strength team-wide this year, and the men’s success will be a lot better than years past. The men are hoping to repeat their performance last year when they finished first out of the 20 teams, but they were playing in the second-tier race.
The women’s team has the same idea, but with a twist. A couple of the runners said that they want to stick with the team before starting to pull away and push towards the front.
“Personally I want to get out somewhat in the front with the faster girls,” junior Kayla Scott said. “I want to feel that race out, not try not to hang out in the back as long and make a move early in the race.”
Along with Scott, junior Krista Roehlig wants to take initiative and pull away from the pack and push herself. Last year, the women finished 41st out of 49 teams.
“I’m going to go out fast and hold on to the end of the race,” Roehlig said. “When Kayla starts going, I want to stay with her and use her to keep me strong till the end.”
The strengths of these two squads will determine how well they finish this meet, and both seem to have what it takes to break the spell of previous seasons.
@wynstonw_
ww773412@ohio.edu
