Cross country puts forth a strong effort

Author: Sarah Bryan

Middlebury's cross country team hit the ground running this past weekend in Plattsburg, N.Y. Tri-captains Hallie Fox '09, Alexandra Krieg '09 and Charlotte Bemis '09 led the women's team to a first-place tie with Plattsburg, last year's NCAA national champions, while Rainey Johnson '09, Pete Murphy '09 and Bruce Hallett '10 guided the men to a second-place finish.

Both teams treated the race as a warm-up for their upcoming fall season and were very pleased with their performance.

"We ran how we had planned to run," said Hallett, "and this weekend's race is encouraging for the rest of the season, especially after ten strenuous days of preseason."

The men ran in groups of three, with the lead runner switching positions every three minutes. The women took the race with a similar strategy, running in slightly larger packs of five.

"The point of the Plattsburg race was to practice running in tight groups," said Annie Sullivan '10, "and although the times are individually recorded, we always run as a team."

After losing last year's All-American team leader, captain Jimmy Butcher '08, the men's team picked up 12 new first-years, all of whom have tremendous talent. With so many new faces, the team looks to the younger runners for stability in an already competitive program. Furthermore, practicing with a larger team will make training runs more enjoyable and allow for flexibility with pacing. As the season gets underway, the team hopes to stay strong, peaking in November at the end of the season.

"We are not focusing on numbers, but on our ability to run as a team and in improving as the season continues," said Hallett.

On the women's side, nine new runners joined the squad to strengthen the team and replace the eight seniors who graduated in 2008. Krieg, an All-American in 2007, hopes to lead the team to nationals again, a common occurrence for a team that has qualified for the NCAA championships 14 out of the last 15 years. If the performance this past weekend dictates how the rest of its season will go, prepare to cheer on the teams this fall at nationals.

Both teams travel to Williams on Sept. 13 to compete in a co-ed partner relay race, while the Panther Invitational follows soon thereafter on Sept. 20.