Cross country travels to East Lansing today for Spartan Invitational
The mental athlete is more important than the physical athlete at this point in the season, as the Central Michigan cross country team travels to East Lansing today for the Spartan Invitational.
The women will run a 5k race at 1 p.m., while the men will run an 8k at 1:35 p.m.
There are 21 other schools competing, including Grand Valley State, Bowling Green, Wayne State, Saginaw Valley State, Miami (OH) and host Michigan State, marking the first CMU will compete against teams from the Mid-American Conference.
Willie Randolph, CMU director of cross country/track and field, said the strategy for the weekend is to make sure the runners realize, mentally and physically, they can do a whole lot more with “heavier legs.”
“The physical athlete has to be there because they are,” Randolph said. “But if that mind set and that mental athlete can’t turn it on when it’s not feeling great, then that’s something we have to address before the end of the year.”
For the month of September, assistant coach Matt Kaczor has started working with the runners on higher mileage, including increased speed and heart rates.
Sophomore Tecumseh Adams leads the men’s side after finishing 23rd (25 minutes, 41 seconds) at the Spartan Invite last year. Seniors Danielle Dakroub (16th, 22:21 last year) and Melissa Darling (23rd) return after sitting out the Sept. 3 Jeff Drenth Memorial.
Junior Raeanne Lohner will sit out the meet after winning Jeff Drenth. She said the team looks to plug in some holes and getting things working together.
“It’s the first time were going to put together a competitive performance,” Lohner said. “We’re looking to close the gaps between our first and fifth runners.”
The freshmen are going to be giving the opportunity to see where they are at with some key runners sitting out. In addition to Lohner, senior Sarah Squires is also out for the women.
