Cross Country team stacked with new blood
As the squad prepares for its first meet, veterans and rookies work toward a successful showing.
By Jason Baker (Contact)
Friday, August 29th, 2008
Kansas football won’t be the only sport going on in Lawrence this Saturday — KU Cross Country will sponsor the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm. It’s the team’s first meet, and its only home contest.
Many team members trained over the summer; some even trained with each other. Freshman Rebeka Stowe, a newcomer on the team, trained with sophomore Amanda Miller over the summer.
“She forced me to get up every morning and run,” Stowe said. “But it’s good to have that kind of leadership.”
Stowe said she looked up to Miller and sophomore Lauren Bonds a lot.
“I can talk to her about anything from T-shirt sizes to what to do at practices. It’s good to have someone there that you’re comfortable talking to,” she said of Miller. “Lauren’s definitely a hard worker. It’s good to have that at practice.”
The team is ready for the season to get underway.
“We’re all excited to see how our training translates into our racing and get an idea of where we’re starting the season,” Laura Nightengale, freshman, said.
This year’s team has several underclassmen and a couple of transfers as well. Junior Isaiah Shirlen transferred from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to take a bigger step in competing.
“The Big 12 is probably one of the two or three toughest conferences in the nation; it should be interesting,” Shirlen said.
With all the new faces on the team, some of the returning runners have been given the opportunity to step up and be leaders.
“As you get older, you feel more responsibility to lead,” Levi Huseman, senior, said. “As far as running goes, that’s Bret (Imgrund) and Nick (Caprario), but vocally I try and step up,” he continued.
The concern for the freshman was the transition from running high school distance to a much longer collegiate distance, but a lot of the freshmen said they were excited to compete in their first collegiate meet and didn’t feel much pressure.
“There’s not too many teams at this one,” Don Wasinger, freshman, said. “We can get our feet wet and make the transition.”
The team members said they’ve been pushing each other.
“Everyone’s trying to make the travel team and varsity; we don’t have any slackers,” Sam Bird, freshman, said. “Everyone’s pushing each other and working hard. It helps yourself feel faster and be a better runner.”
Bird said that he’d always been a long-distance guy and that this should be in his favor for the season. He said that he looked up to former runner Colby Wissel, who practices with the team.
“He makes it sound more down to earth and relaxed, and (there’s) not as much pressure as you think,” Bird said, talking about Wissel’s attitude about racing at the collegiate level.
For some of the returning runners, living up to what Colby Wissel and Paul Hefferon accomplished is a concern.
“We have to live up to the Kansas name since they put us back on the map,” said sophomore Dan Van Orsdel. “Hopefully we can fill their shoes.”
Sophomore Nick Caprario said he was also feeling the pressure to live up to his own expectations.
“I think there’s always been a chip on my shoulder,” Caprario said. “Especially freshman year, having to get out there and prove myself. But I feel confident in my ability.”
This year’s race will be different. The course will not include the Billy Mills hill. This cuts the women’s race from a 6K- to a 5K-long route, but the men’s race will stay at the 8K distance. Bonds said it was definitely a good thing, but a lot of the returning men didn’t agree.
“It’s the main thing in the course; we look forward to it and it makes the course tough,” Van Orsdel said.
The men’s team will compete at 9 a.m. and the women’s team will compete at 10 a.m.
— Edited by Kelsey Hayes
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