Two weeks ago, Ball State Cross Country recorded its first 1st place finish in two years at the Jenna Strong Invitational. The Cardinals are looking to work off of that momentum going into the season finale at the MAC Championships this weekend in Toledo, Ohio.
“Our meet two weeks ago was what we needed at the right time,” head coach Rachel McFarlane sad. “Just great races for the whole group. We managed the course really well and it will set us up to do the same things at the MAC Championship.”
The team has been working on “race plans” all season focusing in on team performance and individual performance. Junior Hannah Cummings said the team has not talked about its MAC race plans yet, but the team has a good idea of what they’re going to look like.
“It’s to run together,” Cummings said. “We train together, workout together and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be just seconds apart from each other when we do so well in the workouts. It’s just to really think about each other throughout and just know who you are supposed to run with.”
The Cardinals are in agreeance that if they stay strong and stay in a pack, they will see a similar result as they did at the Jenna Strong meet.
“Our biggest thing is just going to be finding each other on the course, working together as groups and hopefully as one big group and making decisions,” McFarlane said. “Also, making moves together throughout, feeling each other’s energy and building off of each other is really going to be the different maker for us.”
The meet is scheduled for Oct 27 at 11 a.m. at the Ottawa Park Golf Course in Toledo, Ohio.
Contact Olivia Adams with any comments at omadams@bsu.edu or on Twitter @olivia_adams5