The Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship at Dickinson College this past Saturday, Nov. 10. Junior Traci Tempone qualified for NCAAs and the Etown Blue Jays finished fifth at the meet with 223 points.
The Blue Jays have been training for this meet more than ever. Tempone said her team has been waiting for this meet all season. This week of training has been different than most weeks during the season. Tempone said that this past week the team ran fewer miles and rested their legs a little. Coach Brian Falk has been making his team run hard courses throughout the season to prepare for this meet. “There is no secret, but to balance training and recovering,” Falk said.
Tempone placed tenth out of 346 athletes and led the Blue Jay women’s cross country team at the 2012 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships. Tempone had a time of 22:33.5. Senior Taryn Shank was the second Etown runner to finish the race with a time of 23:26.5. Tempone and Shank earned all-region accolades because they both placed in the top 35.
Making it to the national meet can be nerve-wracking. This national meet can create a lot of pressure for the entire team. Junior Eileen Cody knows that her team has the ability to make it to nationals and the pressure comes from within each teammate. “We are trying not to become too overexcited and over nervous,” Cody said. Junior Elaina Nellis said her team has been trying to keep the momentum of the season going. “Because we’ve been to nationals the past few years we are putting pressure on ourselves to hopefully make it again,” Nellis stated.
The Blue Jays ranked fifth behind Johns Hopkins University, Haverford College, Dickinson College and Carnegie Mellon University. Etown will now have to wait and see if they move to the NCAA Division III Championships. Last year, the team placed 22nd at the Championships and the team is already preparing for the meet.
Falk knew that there would be tough competition at Saturday’s meet. He always gives the athletes advice before they compete. “Be more clear headed than the opposition,” said Falk. He makes it clear to the athletes that there are 300-400 athletes running the race with narrow hills. Falk advises them to balance between being in front and dealing with the hills. “It’s all about adrenaline and not getting too worked up,” Falk added.
The Blue Jays have an optimistic attitude about upcoming races. Nellis expects her team to “just go into the race with a positive outlook.” Nellis believes there is always room for improvement, even though their last race’s outcome was winning the conference championship. Tempone doesn’t want her team to have any regrets, and be proud of what they accomplish. Cody wants her team to put their best effort into each race because she believes that her team has the capacity to do this. “Our coach always says the goal of the meet is to be a better team than we were at the race before,” Nellis said.
Falk’s goal for this past Saturday’s meet was to qualify for NCAAs. Since the team finished fifth with 223 points, Etown was placed into a pool. 16 out of 24 teams are taken from the meet, so the Blue Jays are waiting for the results.
Tempone is going to prepare for the 2012 NCAA Division III Championships to be held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 12:45 p.m.