After five straight years of dominance, the Elon cross-country team faces a new challenge this year. Following five CAA championships by the women and sustained success by the men, the team now has an uncertain future under new leadership.
After seven years at Elon, head coach Kevin Jermyn resigned and became Duke University’s head coach. Former Eastern Michigan University head cross-country coach Mark Rinker was hired in the offseason and has big shoes to fill.
“One of the reasons I was excited about coming to Elon is the success of the program so the expectations aren't a deterrent,” Rinker said. “They don't scare me. I'm excited to embrace the success the program has had, and we want to keep it going and try to make the teams even better.”
Rinker acknowledges there is already an expectation of success, but he said he hopes to bring his personality and technique to the table.
“Obviously, the program has had a lot of success and the coaching has been very good,” Rinker said. “I'm just going to bring who I am and not try to be anybody else. That energy will help move us forward.”
Rinker said he has been having lots of conversations with members of the team to get to know them and start to build chemistry before the season swings into full gear.
“I’ve been getting to know everybody and been giving them the opportunity to ask me questions about my coaching style, coaching philosophy and how I look to move the program forward,” Rinker said. “The way that I interact might be a little bit different, but I think over time, we'll build that trust and open communication.”
Rinker has some clear goals for the upcoming season. He said he wants the men’s team to keep improving and find more consistency in individual performances.
“We're just going to get better every week and use our leadership and our older guys that have a little bit experience to help kind of bring some of the younger freshmen along,” Rinker said.
He said he hopes the women’s team can continue the streak of CAA Championships, while also finding more success at the NCAA Regionals and Championships.
Graduate student and co-captain Madison Synowiec also hopes to use this year as a platform to succeed more at the regional level. She also sees this year as a way to adjust to all of the changes to the program.
“Our team is super different this year with losing our head coach and we had a lot of fifth-years and seniors who are all gone now,” Synowiec said. “So our team is super young, and expectations are just for us to all do our best and work hard and see what happens.”
Rinker acknowledges the losses the team has faced — 60% of the team are underclassmen — but sees lots of promise in the team that remains.
“It's no secret on the women's side, we've lost five of our top seven from the conference meet last year,” Rinker said. “I still think we have a tremendous group of women with newcomers, as well as the returning women that ran really well.”
The women’s team will be led by captains Synowiec, junior Sarah Petitjean and junior Katie Blount. They will be aided by the veteran experience of graduate student transfers Mariana Martinez and Mikayla Jones. The men’s team will be spearheaded by the duo of co-captains redshirt sophomore Evan Taylor and junior Nate Mars.
The 2024 season will be a special one for Elon with the rare opportunity for the team to get home field advantage three times. The Elon Cross Country Course will host three meets throughout the season: Elon Opener, Phoenix Invitational, CAA Championships.
Taylor said he believes these home meets will provide an opportunity for the men’s team to contend for the conference title.
“We're really looking to continue to build on the progress we've been making these past couple years with this new culture and this new attitude, and hopefully put together some really good days on those home meets that we have,” Taylor said. “Maybe we can try to contend for a title at conference, and if not, just really put our best foot forward.”
Taylor said the men’s team needs to make sure they stay focused during the big meets like the CAA Championships.
“We would really like when those more important meets come around to be able to focus on those days, handle that pressure, excel, and not just meet those expectations, but go beyond them,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he worked hard during the summer to train and to maintain his speed.
“As a distance athlete, we kind of lose the speed aspect sometimes,” Taylor said. “So I was really trying to work on those sprint mechanics just to try and help out with some of that end of race kind of situation that you find yourself in a lot of the time.”
Looking towards the season as it approaches, Synowiec said she believes adjusting to all of the new changes will be hard, but she said the challenges a young team with a new head coach brings on are needed.
“I think expecting challenges and adversity is really important because it's pretty guaranteed to happen to some of us along the way this season,” Synowiec said. “So just being ready for that and being able to handle that no matter what happens is important.”