A misstep in the middle of a cross country race can cost a runner a second or two. But when a team has a misstep, it can mean a season.
The men's cross country entered Pre-nationals at the University of Northern Iowa last weekend ranked No. 15 in the nation and looking to finish in the top-10, and possibly even top-five. Instead, the harriers staggered to a 21st place finish.
How bad was it? They finished 302 points behind Villanova, the team ranked No. 16 in the nation.
With the low finish, the men jeopardized their chance to make it to nationals for the first time in nearly 20 years. The men have only one major meet -- the ACC Championships -- before regionals, the meet that determines which teams go onto nationals and which teams start training for indoor track. The top-two finishers at regionals automatically qualify for nationals while the rest of the field is determined mathematically based on results from earlier in the season.
The women's team, on the other hand, may be finding its stride. The 13th place finish in Northern Iowa gave the young and inexperienced squad its first strong performance at a top tier meet. Jane Maxwell, one of two seniors running for the Cavaliers, led the women across the line, finishing 34th with a time of 21:11 for the six-kilometer race.
MEN
According to coach Jason Dunn, both teams entered the race in Cedar Falls, Iowa fatigued from three weeks of hard training. And for the men, it showed from the opening gun.
The pack started slow, coming through the first mile 40 to 50 spots from the back of the race. Junior Will Christian, the team's top runner, made his move around that point, but his running partner senior Walt Kingsbery did not move with him. In last month's Great American meet, Christian and Kingsbery finished sixth and seventh respectively, but in this meet, Kingsbery placed 99th, 75 spots behind his cohort.
"I don't think it was poor execution," Dunn said. "I think they went into the race emotionally and physically tired. And in a situation like that, if you're not on your game, it's going to be obvious because there are so many good guys, because the race is so fast."
Individually, though, Christian continued his astounding running in what has become his breakout junior season, even if his legs were a little weary.
"I think the fatigue of the past couple weeks caught up to him," Dunn said of Christian. "But I was still happy with the race. He still ran a PR for 8000 meters. And I think he has a chance to be an All-American."
Christian, though, was more concerned with his team's recovery in a bid for an invitation to nationals.
"We're still psyched," he said. "We know that we are a team that can go to nationals. We know we are a team that can be top-two in regionals. We've just got to go out and do it. We will."
WOMEN
The first thing Maxwell noticed about the course was how flat and fast it was. While jogging the course the day before, Maxwell said she was surprised at how easily she could run a sub-7:00 pace.
And in the race she took advantage of the course's speed, racing out with the front pack and holding on to finish 34th.
"I love the course," she said. "There were only a couple hills, and I like to get out fast and hold on as long as I can. Then I kick in the last straight-away."
The rest of the team followed suit, finishing within close proximity to each other and racing "the best team race we've had all season," Maxwell said.
"We showed some life," Dunn said. "We still ran a little bit tentative because I think we were scared of running a poor race like we ran at Great American. I think now we're in a good position going into ACCs. We won't be as cautious. But I was happy, it was an improvement for sure."
Both the men's and women's next meet is the ACC Championship race, held Nov. 1 at Winston-Salem, N.C.
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