Men's, women's cross country look past Heps, seek success in Districts

For the first time in three years, the men's cross country team enters District Regionals without a Heps victory behind it.

After a seventh-place finish at Heps last weekend, the women's cross country team is also looking for redemption this weekend.

Both Tiger cross country teams will head to NCAA District II competition in University Park, Pa., with participation in NCAA championships on the line. The meet will give both squads a chance to qualify as teams, but many runners are also looking to qualify individually should their team not advance. The top two men's and women's runners in the district from teams that do not qualify collectively will still make it to NCAAs.

A reeling men's team is looking to recover from a stunning upset at Heps by Dartmouth.

"It was completely unexpected," senior Tensai Asfaw said. "I think Dartmouth's just as shocked as we were."

After surging ahead in the opening minutes at Heps, the Tigers struggled to maintain their pace and became separated along the course.

The new strategy: Stay together and store energy. It is not as easy as it sounds.

"We have to be patient," Asfaw said. "That's kind of scary for me. I want to be up front and I'll have to hold myself back. It takes a lot of confidence to let everybody go out ahead and believe that you can catch them later. But you don't get awards for winning the first 5K. I think that's something I'm going to have to keep in mind."

But the raw memory of Heps should help Asfaw — and the rest of the Tigers — realize their plan.

"We sit in a much different situation than we sat in at the Heps meet," junior Wesley Stockard said. "As a team we went out and we got our butts kicked a little bit. I think we're going to use the Heps meet as fuel for the fire. We can remember that taste in our mouths and use that for the national meet because we don't want to taste that again."

The women's team is hoping to repeat last year's strong performance at Districts — the Tigers finished fourth — after disappointments at Heps.

The first question for the team, however, is not simply how the team will run but who will be in the Tigers' lineup. Freshman Emily Kroshus — the team's strongest runner — is currently on antibiotics for bronchitis and may not be running this weekend.

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"We're waiting to see if Emily Kroshus can run or not," head coach Peter Farrell said. "With a healthy program, we'd like to be in the top four. Hopefully, we stay healthy through the race. We need a pack to move together."

Kroshus — who hasn't run much in the last week — says her lung capacity is down 20 percent, but hopes to run this weekend with a chance at qualifying for NCAAs individually.

"I want to redeem my season but I don't want to make myself really sick," Kroshus said. "Getting sick really interferes in my plans. I think I'm improving, though. I just need to take better care of myself.""It's really difficult to qualify and so you need to be running at your best, so this is not an ideal situation," she added.

If she competes in Districts, Kroshus' game plan is simple. She says she will "go to the front and run 'till I die."

But Kroshus isn't the only member of the team who might be sidelined this weekend.

Junior Catherine Casey's hip remains injured from before Heps, and she is likewise questionable for the weekend.

"She's still nursing it, but I think she'll be better for Saturday," Farrell said. "The team's in good spirits for the race. Traditionally we've always answered the Heps with a better performance at Districts. We're looking to put it together. We want to put all the people on the same page." (Senior writer Sophia Hollander and staff writer Kimberly Ruthsatz contributed to this report)