“Every year is the same. Win the conference, get a national bid,” Coach Brian Falk said of the men’s and women’s cross country teams. Although their four-year conference championship streak was broken this past season, they have the athletes to reclaim their place atop the throne this year. They, along with the rest of the athletic department, have switched from the MAC to the Landmark Conference. While this is a big change from a competition standpoint, it is a challenge they are ready to face and it certainly does not change their goal for the season.
“It’s a smaller conference and not as competitive as the MAC, but that isn’t relevant to our goal of winning a championship,” Falk said. Susquehanna University, according to Falk, is their major competition in the Landmark, but if the MAC has taught them anything, it is that this Etown team can run with the best of them. A conference championship, unlike most other NCAA sports, does not mean they get a bid in the national tournament. A place in the tournament is contingent upon their performance in the regional qualifier, from which six teams are chosen: the first and second place teams, and from the following three through six teams, four are picked by a committee based on strength of schedule and other qualifications.
A young team came to Etown this year, with the majority of the men’s team being first-years and sophomores. “Preseason went about as well as it could have,” claimed Falk. “The guys looked good, and being a young team, our future is bright.” As far as the women’s team goes, it is a more experienced group then the men’s team. Currently ranked 24th in the nation and fourth in the region, they have high hopes for this season, especially with three returning seniors who made Nationals last year, and a strong first-year class.
Junior Zach Trama is a promising talent with a veteran mental edge. According to Trama, it was “almost impossible for us to do better at the alumni meet.” He’s right, given the fact that they were only one point away from a perfect sweep (15-50). One of their main focuses this season is to run in packs, and Trama claims they did this very well in their meet this past Friday against Shippensburg University. “It is pretty scary for other teams when they see four Elizabethtown runners go past them at once. Also, it allows us to push each other when it gets tough in the latter half of the race. Last night at Shippensburg we were able to do a really good job of this,” he said. Another highlight was the defeat of York College, which was ranked ahead of them before the race.
“We are willing to work, and want to win,” senior Amelia Tearnan said. “In the alumni meet, I believe the team performed very well. It was a great start to the season and it helped us to determine where we need to improve.” This was certainly a benchmark for the team going forward to the Shippensburg meet, where humidity and stiff competition played a major role. These conditions will only make them stronger when they eventually take on regional rivals Dickinson College and Haverford College, as well as conference rival Moravian College, later in the season.
All in all, these Blue Jay runners will not know the word “quit.” If their early season performances are anything to go off of, this should prove to be a banner year for the program.
