Virginia cross country will compete at the NCAA Championship meet this Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. This marks the second year in a row and the seventh time overall that both the men’s and women’s team qualified for the meet.
The road to Terre Haute began in August, and the path has held several twists and turns unanticipated by women’s coach Todd Morgan.
Injuries to sophomores Maria Hauger — the 2013 ACC Freshman of the Year and All-Southeast Region runner — and Jen Flack created two more holes to fill in the scoring five, in addition to the gap left by the departure of Barbara Strehler.
Two graduate student transfers Morgan Kelly and Iona Lake proved to be an immediate boon for the 17th-ranked Cavalier women. They combined with Sarah Fakler to form a fearsome trio at the head of the team — all three were All-ACC and All-Southeast Region selections this season.
“Iona is a big talent,” Morgan said. “This is her first semester with us, so she’s been adjusting. But we’re such a tough team because any of those three can be our number one.”
However, the contributions of three runners, no matter how talented they are, cannot lead a team to success at a meet of the NCAA Championship’s caliber, and Virginia needs a total team effort during the weekend.
Graduate student Kathleen Stevens settled into the number four slot for the Cavaliers. Her steady presence behind the first wave of Virginia runners was instrumental in the team’s second-place finish at the Southeast Regional Championships.
In 2013, the Cavalier women capped off what can only be described as a shocking season with a ninth-place finish at NCAAs. Morgan believes last year’s results are replicable.
“There are 15 teams that could be in the top-10, and I’d like to think we’re one of them,” Morgan said. “If you think about that too much then you’ll end up on the other side of the fence. If we go in there with a level head then we have a good chance to be top-10.”
Coach Pete Watson and the No. 13 Virginia men did not face the adversity of their female counterparts. The team entered the season with its returning number one — 2014 All-American junior Kyle King — and a core of seasoned runners, expecting to improve upon a 13th-place performance at the 2013 national championship.
If anything, 2014 began better than expected. The Cavaliers won the Panorama Farms Invitational and finished ahead of three top-10 opponents at the Washington Invitational, but the team hit a bump in the road at ACCs, where they placed fourth.
But Watson was not in an unfamiliar position. His team floundered at the ACC Championship in 2013 before rallying to take the runner-up spot at the Southeast Regional meet.
The Virginia men would one-up themselves in 2014 — winning the Southeast Regional and proving once and for all that they are a team built for the 10-kilometer races.
Watson believes his team is naturally better at longer distances, but he also makes a concerted effort to train for it throughout the season.
“Our training is focused on the [10-kilometer races],” Watson said. “We also have some guys who are stronger at the five-kilometer and 10-kilometer on the track, which translates well to 10-kilometer cross country.”
Sophomore Adam Visokay is one such runner. Visokay was an honorable mention All-American in the 10,000-meter run last spring. He began the cross country season behind schedule in terms of fitness, and the early results showed that.
But a new Visokay emerged at the Southeast Regional, where he earned All-Region honors following a sixth place finish.
“Adam’s run at the Regional meet was key for us,” Watson said. “Things started clicking for him about a month ago in practice, but it took until last week to show itself. Adam is very dangerous once he gets within 1000 meters of the finish line.”
Visokay, King and junior Zach Herriott will lead the charge for Virginia at NCAAs, but sophomore Connor Rog has an equally important role to play. Rog was the first Cavalier to finish at ACCs, but he felt the sting of a longer course at the Southeast Regionals and fell back to number five.
Watson expects Rog to return to his dynamic ways Saturday.
“That was Rog’s first 10-kilometer,” Watson said. “The learning curve can be tough, and he struggled a little bit. Still, he can produce a good result while struggling. I expect a little more out of him now that he knows what he’s in to.”
The trajectory of the 2014 campaign took the men’s and women’s teams on divergent paths. Still, both squads wound up where the expected to be — in Terre Haute on the final weekend of the season.
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