By Pat Tintle
Staff Writer
Tomorrow, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Mechanicsville, Va., to attend the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The race will begin at 10 a.m. and includes Bonaventure rivals George Washington, Rhode Island and A-10 favorite, La Salle. Last year’s winner, Butler, has since moved from the A-10 conference.
“La Salle is usually the team to beat in the Atlantic 10, and that shouldn’t change this year,” senior Chris Spiker said.
Other teams to watch out for are Richmond, who have claimed the title multiple times, and George Mason, according to Spiker.
“For us, we expect to contend with George Washington and URI,” Spiker said. “If we all can have some of the best races of our lives, I’m confident we can knock off one or two teams at the A-10s.”
The Bonnies have experienced struggles when competing in the A-10 Championship, according to junior Harley Thompson.
“I believe that all of our mindsets going into this race entails two things,” Thompson said. “First, we hope to beat a few teams and put this team where it has not been for dozens of years and that is out of last place. Secondly, everyone is looking for a personal best. We have all worked hard to run our best race at A-10s, and I believe we all will.”
Knowing the team’s historical struggles, Head Coach Bob Macfarlane has been preparing his runners with lighter workouts, not wanting to tire his team out too early, according to Spiker.
“Leading up to the A-10, our workouts have focused on preparing our fast-twitch muscles for the speed needed to contend with our A-10 opponents,” Spiker said. “We also decreased our weekly mileage significantly about 10 days before A-10s. With less mileage, our legs should feel much fresher on race day.”
Despite the tough competition and lack of recent success, the Bonnies are still hopeful that their trip to Virginia will be worthwhile.
“This team is in excellent shape heading into this championship race,” Thompson said. “People can expect to see some fast times out of the runners on this team because they have worked hard, and I believe the results are going to show.”
Working together can still be helpful in a sport like cross country, according to sophomore Rachel Dorogi.
“Coach Macfarlane has prepared us by encouraging our team to focus on the importance of team unity,” Dorogi said. “In an individual sport, team communication is not usually a priority as much as other aspects of the sport. But coach commonly conveys the importance of our team unity and how trust in each other will bring us further than we ever could by fighting through a race all on our own.”
Along with the rest of the team, Dorogi said she is looking to keep to the strategy set by Macfarlane. In order to exceed expectations, the Bonnies will focus on endurance, according to Dorogi.
“The first one off the starting line is not necessarily the winner,” Dorogi said. “We may not have started as the strongest team, but together, we are patiently working towards moving our way into becoming a team we can all be proud of.”
