2008 Woodie Awards
Cross Country: the Motivation Remains a Mystery
Lauren Newmyer
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: News
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"Cross country definitely brings in a certain type of person," said Coach Jamie LaFollette, a junior. "It takes a certain mentality to go out in 80 or 90 degrees and run. Most runners have very strong internal drives to be able to push themselves and do it independently."
Though many cross country runners claim to be unsure as to why they run cross country, most agree that there is an addicting factor to it.
"Everyone loves it but they have no idea why," said first-year Grace Normann. "I guess it's just one of the more satisfying sports when it goes well. When you work really hard and it pays off, it really feels good even if you might not be able to walk up the stairs for a few weeks."
Guilford's cross country program, started in 2004, is fairly new. The captains this season are Chris Walker and Brett McDonough on the men's side, and Emily Frenzel on the women's side. With 24 runners, including 14 returning letter winners, the team has a chance to be competitive in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
"We're really excited about this year," said Walker. "We've been putting out lots of effort and lots of time."
The ODAC pre-season coaches' poll placed the Guilford men's cross country team sixth, and the women's team seventh in the conference.
The men's team placed third out of five teams, while the women placed fifth out of seven teams in last weekends' Marlin Invitational meet in Virginia Beach. Top runners were first-years Grace Normann, who placed 14th, and Jeremy Wang ,who placed 17th. Sophomore Charissa Duncan placed 15th.
LaFollette expects the women's team to be quite strong this year, having lost only one runner out of last year's top five.
"We lost our top three runners from last year on the men's side, none of which were seniors," said LaFollette. "We were going to be really good, but now we'll have to wait and see. We're young so we're going to improve."
The Guilford team has the advantage of being able to practice on the loops that run through 250 acres of woods on campus. They also have a cross country course on campus that is suitable for 5k, 6k and 8k races.
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