Cross country is one a rare collegiate sport, along with golf and wrestling, because it is both individual and team-based.
Couple that with having both men’s and women’s sides, and cross country turns out to be what Elon University men’s cross country redshirt sophomore Sean Magee calls “weird.”
“Your race is really individual, you don’t have to pest anybody or do anything like that,” he said. “It’s weird how you are really dependent on your team, because even if you finish first, you need five people to finish, or else you’re disqualified. And then also, when you’re training or in races, you’re working with your teammates, you see them out there. It’s like a tangible difference.”
Senior women’s runner Christine Pacewicz talks about how setting goals as an individual is key to having a good team performance.
[box]Sophomore Sensation Sophomore Luis Vargas had a remarkable freshman season in 2011. See what he plans to accomplish this year.[divider_flat] [/box]
“Your race is really individual, you don’t have to pest anybody or do anything like that,” she said. “It’s weird how you are really dependent on your team, because even if you finish first, you need five people to finish, or else you’re disqualified. And then also, when you’re training or in races, you’re working with your teammates, you see them out there. It’s like a tangible difference.”
The Elon cross country team is coming off a season where the women were on the brink of a championship, while the men have been steadily improving.
The women finished third in the Southern Conference Championship last year, but senior Emily Tryon has a guarantee for this year.
“Our big goal, we’re going to win conference, we’ve decided,” she said.
The SoCon coaches agree, voting the Phoenix as the best women’s team in the conference.
“We returned three out of our top four from last year, who all had phenomenal seasons,” said Elon head coach Christine Engel. “But we also have probably our strongest recruiting class we’ve ever had, so we’re really excited about the five girls we’ve added to the roster as well.”[box]SoCon Favorites The Elon women's cross country team was voted tops in the conference by coaches. Read the story here.[divider_flat] [/box]
Pacewicz and Tryon partner with junior Allyson Oram to lead the Phoenix women this season. Oram finished ninth at the conference meet last season while setting a school record.
Despite spectacular individual performances, Tryon said the team is focusing more on being a team as the key to beating top conference rivals.
“In practice, we really want to work off of each other, have good workout with each other,” she said. “In the races, we want to make sure that our gaps are closed between runners, so we’re finishing close together but we’re also finishing far up, in front of conference rivals. We want to put a lot of girls in front of the top runners from other conferences.”
For the men, sophomore Luis Vargas leads what Engel calls a “strong contingent of returners” that includes breakout sophomore Ari Rothschild and previously injured runners Magee and junior Ben Perron. Vargas finished tenth at last year’s SoCon championships in a school record time, but the team wants more.
“We’re looking at, assuming everybody gets healthy, but either way, trying to win the SoCon championship,” Rothschild said. “That’s one of our huge goals and it’s a big one, and it’s not going to be easy, but we’re working hard towards that.”
The Phoenix men finished sixth in last year’s SoCon championship meet and were picked to finish seventh by the coaches this season. Rothschild was a bit of a late bloomer in 2011, posting a career best and Elon ninth-best time at the SoCon championships. Behind Rothschild and Vargas, the men hope to improve. [box]On Camera Last year, now-junior men's cross country runner Nick Schneider acted in a feature film. Read about his experience.[divider_flat] [/box]
“Last year, we didn’t really get where we wanted, but each year, especially since Coach Engel has come here, we’ve just improved,” said junior Jimmy Stevenson. “We’ve gotten better and better and better. So I think, if our team’s healthy and we’re doing those little things and we’re making progress throughout the season, then we can achieve that goal.”
It all comes down to that SoCon Championship meet, which takes place Oct. 27 in Charleston, S.C. Engel said a focus on the little things is important to winning that meet.
“I think it’s a really good combination of having the right team chemistry, having the girls or the guys really feed off each other and have a healthy competitiveness within each other every day at practice, and that they do the right things outside of practice, that they live a good lifestyle, get enough rest, eat properly, keep shenanigans at a minimum,” she said.
Rothschild echoed the importance of the little things, crediting a focus on them for the improvement he saw at the end of 2011.
“The more I did it, I guess the better I got,” he said. “Just training, making sure you’re doing everything. Those little things really do matter, and sometimes people gloss over those, but that’s what really gives you an extra edge on the competition.”
Engel also said a little bit of fortune would not hurt either.
“It’s that and obviously keeping people healthy and minimizing sickness and injury and all that,” she said. “Definitely a combination of hard work, discipline, team chemistry, maybe a smidge of luck.”