By JACLYN BURKE
Student Reporter
Northwestern Oklahoma State University Cross Country runners gear up for a season of improvement after their first meet.
The first meet of the season was certainly not a victory, but it wasn’t all negative.
Head Cross Country coach, Eric Bane said, “it was okay; we’re building.” Senior Kaitlyn O’Toole said, “the first meet was a good experience for us. I really felt that it let us dip our toes in the water. There is still some improvement to be made, but with the group that we have, I feel it is very possible.”
A common problem in cross country running is starting off the race too fast, which was an issue for the team at their first meet. They have been working on pacing themselves, said Bane.
The plan for the upcoming meets is to drop back in the beginning, then move up and pass other runners later in the race. This also acts as a confidence booster for the runners. Being able to pass a few people later on feels better than starting to lag behind and getting passed halfway through the race. Bane said the team will improve their confidence through the new coaching situation.
In the past, the assistant coach of one sport was the head coach of cross country, so they did the best they could, but couldn’t contribute all of their time to the cross country team.
The school seems to be paying more attention to the team and hired a full time head coach. Bane said, “it’s a step in the right direction.”
Knowing Northwestern is backing them more than ever will contribute to the positive mentality the runners need to perform their best.
Although the cross country team is currently rather thin, there are good things to say about everyone on the team. They are nice kids and are all working hard, said Bane.
Bane thinks of each meet as glorified practice until conference and regionals.
However, Luis Chavez, a 22-year-old senior from Beaver, Okla., views the meets as an opportunity to stand out. He is looking forward to the Joplin, Mo. and Hays, Kan. meets.
Chavez said, “I want to break the school record of 27 minutes and 10 seconds for an 8k, and those two meets are the best ones to accomplish my goal.”
Bane looks forward to a different meet, regionals, because the team hasn’t gotten to compete at regionals in the past.
Bane said the goal for regionals is to “hopefully surprise people and show people we mean business.”
He is also hopeful that a handful of runners will sneak into nationals this season.
Since Northwestern is paying more attention to the cross country team, O’Toole hopes to hold onto the spotlight by competing at the University of Arkansas meet. It is supposed to be a big meet, “which can be a great thing for Northwestern. It might be a good way to attract more attention to our school,” said O’Toole.
Their next meet will be the Southern Stampede, Saturday at 9 a.m. in Joplin, Mo.