Crimson Classic offers final tune-up on Friday
10/15/2015 2:50:00 PM | Cross Country
The Sam Houston State men's and women's cross country teams visit Alabama's Crimson Classic and Harry Pritchett Running Park, one of the nation's premier meets, on Friday from Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the squad's final tune-up before hosting the Southland Conference Championships on Oct. 30.
Thirty-two women's squads will take part in the 5,000 meters beginning at 5 p.m. while 31 men's teams will line up for the 8,000 meters at 5:30 p.m. Among the competitors, 16 men's squads and 12 women's teams are ranked, offering an exciting challenge for head coach Jesse Parker's teams.
“We're two weeks out from the conference meet and really everybody at this point is competing in big races,” Parker said. “It has really grown to be one of the major pre-championship meets. It's a championship type environment without a championship on the line and provides us a last chance to work out any strategies before the conference meet.”
The former golf course, marked by smooth terrain and fewer rolling hills than the Kats saw at the Longhorn Invitational, was converted to a cross country course in 2003. The trip marks the fourth straight fall the Bearkats have taken part in the event.
“Now that we have data from the last several years from our athlete's competing, it's easy for us to see how we perform this weekend compared to how other athletes have performed in previous years,” Parker said. “It's a good guide and build confidence going into the conference meet too if an athlete runs a minute faster this weekend than they did a year ago.”
In its last competition, the Sam Houston men placed fourth and women secured sixth from Balcones-Spicewood Springs Course in Austin. Chris Speaks paced the men with a second-place finisher (25:23.60) in the 8K while Olivia Olguin took 12th (19:20.00).
While the collective result was not what Parker was after, he believes it was a reflection of the mental preparation and not physical, something the team has worked on over the two weeks since.
“We were on a recovery week that week and sometimes when you back off of training, it's hard to stay in attack mode from a mental standpoint,” Parker said. “I think we let our guard down mentally and didn't approach the race with the right kind of focus and intensity needed. I sat down and talked to the team and told them they have to bring that focus into practice every day.”
A season ago, the Bearkat women took 13th and the men placed 14th among 24 squads. Among returners, Ana Moreno went 43rd (18:21.90), Olivia Olguin finished 47th (18:22.91), Miranda Prado took 78th (18:55.02) and Nicole Aponte placed 85th (18:58.25). For the men returning, Evan Arambula went 62nd (26:28.32), Colton Stoker was 81st (26:28.32) and Grant Buley took 83rd (26:46.30).
“They are pulling some of the best teams in the area,” Parker said. “Just to finish in the top half you've got to have a pretty good squad and I think our target is going out and racing well and putting ourselves in competition with some of these teams and seeing what happens.”
Parker says the championship-level course is among his favorites each year, primarily due to the job Alabama head coach Dan Waters, formerly at Texas A&M, does with the event. He added that while the focus is internal heading into the face, the level of competition provides motivation.
“I think it's more of a feel of pressure because this is a big race with a lot of good teams,” Parker said. “People tend to respond to pressure in two ways; either they rise and become a diamond or they buckle and let it crush them. My expectation is that we rise and raise our level of competition.”
