At SUNYACs, both squads of the Plattsburgh State cross-country team finished in the top 10 showing that they are a force to be reckoned with this postseason.
“I thought we did really well, and we performed strong on our home course,” said head coach Andrew Krug. “We improved from last year — that’s all i could ask for.”
Krug mentioned that both races were very close and that it could have gone either way.
“On the women’s side we thought we could do as good as fourth. We just got beat by Fredonia, who had a overall great race.”
The women’s team were just seven points away from the next team, and Krug said that the team is looking to take some of those teams out at regionals.
“Its fuel to the fire, but we’re very happy with a fifth place finish. We just have to run a strong race and we’ll get some revenge.”
Senior Emma Deshaies agrees.
“I think we did well last Saturday,” Deshaies said. “Our regional squad is in good shape, and we’re running fast.”
Deshaies stressed that regionals is just another chance for the team to do well.
“At pre-regionals earlier in the season we placed 10th, so I think we can do that again” Deshaies said. I think it gives us confidence that we can compete with those team and hang with them.”
Deshaies was thrilled with gaining the experience of running at regionals and facing a plethora of teams. This variety of teams faced should inspire confidence heading forward.
That experience will pay dividends for the team, Krug believes.
“We’re looking to run fast at a course we already performed well at.”
Krug said it’s important for the team to start out strong as they will see tough competitors like St. Lawrence University, University of Rochester, RPI, Ithaca, Hamilton and Clarkson.
“It’s going to start fast and end fast,” Krug said. “So it’s a matter of staying alert and aggressive in the middle of the race. That’s the most crucial time.”
Overall Krug is excited to see how the team does a week from now because anything can happen at regionals.
“We want to beat some of those teams that passed us. We are hungry to go after people at regionals.”
Someone who is hungry for next Saturday is junior Ethan Vinson.
“I was happy with the effort at SUNYACs,” Vinson said. “We fought for it. We made every team that beat us earn it.”
Despite the men’s team finishing in eighth place, the sixth, seventh and eighth place were separated only by 18 points.
“Hopefully we can close the gap and beat a couple of them at regionals” Vinson said. “We want to return the favor, and SUNYACs shows how much we’ve grown as a team.”
Krug wants the team to leave it all out there because there’s no reason to hold back as this is most likely the last race of the season.
“We had goals at the season to improve our places from last year, and we’re in great position to do so. Just go after it, and put your best effort forward,” Krug said.
Email David Luces at david.luces@cardinalpointsonline.com
