Runners set to face a tougher NCAA course than Terre Haute, Louisville or Madison Monday...
Members of the Washington men's team
after inspecting the NCAA championship
course Sunday afternoon (Mike Scott photo)
STILLWATER, Oklahoma--In advance of Monday's NCAA Division I cross country championships, both University of Washington squads, and the Gonzaga men's team plus Bulldog individual competitor Kristen Garcia toured the Oklahoma State University cross country course which is on the school's campus.
Monday's race is expected to be contested under mostly sunny skies, with temperatures in the low 60s by the start of the women's 6k race at 11:50 am central/9:50 am pacific, and the men's 10k race one hour later.
ESPNU will offer live coverage of the race starting at 9:30 am pacific, with a replay at 6 pm pacific.
In a post on LetsRun.com, Oklahoma State University coach and Olympia native Dave Smith said that his course has more elevation changes than the last three NCAA championship sites--Terre Haute, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky, and Madison, Wisconsin.
“I think that this is going be very hard very early and that’s just the way challenging, hilly courses of any kind go,” Smith says. “So that turns into not only a physical experiment but, ultimately, a psychological experiment. That changing terrain, you have to be willing to be in big distress early and talk yourself through that. A lot of people are perfectly fine with being in the redline when they’re close to home. Courses like this I think just challenge that, the way you manage your discomfort.”
He also thinks that those athletes doubling back from the NCAA indoor championships in Fayetteville could be in for a rude surprise, noting that, “I think if there was a year you could get away with running 3ks on the track and just moseying on over to cross country course, maybe in Louisville or Terre Haute, you could do that,” Smith says. “I don’t think this is that situation. I think it benefits us greatly that we saw this last fall and were able to tailor the upcoming months of training around the specifics of it.”
To read the full interview with Smith, click the link here.
LetsRun has an extensive preview of both the men's and women's races, which you can access from their home page. Also, media partner RunnerSpace.com's preview is available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of Oklahoma State University, University of Washington, Gonzaga University; and Prime Time Timing, RunnerSpace.com & LetsRun.com contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support our sponsors by clicking on the links.
Comments