The Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country teams will begin their final preparations for the NCAA Championships with two significant meets in the next three weeks?the Pre-NCAA meet at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. on Oct. 19 and the Big East Championship on Nov. 1 at Boston College.
The No. 5 women’s team placed first at the Pre-NCAA meet last year on their way to a third-place finish at the national championships, but according to Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer, the team’s emphasis will be on gaining experience on ISU’s track.
“We want to get in a dress rehearsal, from the trip out to Terre Haute to the course itself, without all of the anxiety that can come [at the championship],” he said.
Though only 31 teams will qualify for the NCAA Championship, almost 100 come to the Pre-NCAA’s to get a feel for the track. “It’s good knowing the course and knowing where you should place,” said sophomore Nicole Lee. “It helps to know where the hills are, where to speed up and where to back off.”
Helmer says he will most likely not make a final decision on which seven women will compete in the meet until Saturday, but that he is considering nine or 10 runners. “We’re not going to line up our seven very best. We want to have a good team effort and beat as many teams as we can, but we won’t be as aggressive as we could be,” he said. “Given our depth, we have the luxury of doing that.”
Senior Marni Kruppa, an All-American last year, is among the top runners who will sit out the Pre-NCAA meet. “Marni is training well and I want to wait two more weeks before I race her,” Helmer said.
The Georgetown women also won the Big East last year, but with powerhouses Providence, Notre Dame and Boston College also in the conference, Helmer notes that while winning the Big East Championship is a team goal, it is not necessary to their success at nationals.
“This year, we don’t have to win the Big East to know that we’re really good,” said Helmer. “We can wait to show our full hand, and rely on experience and maturity to make it work.”
Helmer will look to Kruppa and fellow seniors Jill Laurendeau and Erin Sicher for mature leadership, but he says he will be looking for one of the younger women to act as a catalyst for the team. “There will be one sophomore or junior who will say ‘You can count on me,’ and step up to perform,” he said. “We need that; it’s the final piece.”
One possible contender is Lee, who ran fifth at the NCAA Championship last year and is a member of the U.S. Junior World Cross Country Team. “I’m kind of the naive runner, and that’s the way Coach Helmer likes it,” Lee said. “I don’t know the big names, I just race.”
Helmer claims the team’s biggest challenge will be establishing a team chemistry, “where one person’s great effort makes everyone great,” but he is confident that the team will turn heads on their way to nationals.
“I want people to worry about us and know that we will continue to improve,” he said. “I don’t mind getting beat, I just want to make sure we get better.”
The No. 7 men’s team finished 10th at the Pre-NCAA meet last year, and Associate Head Coach Patrick Henner says the team is looking to improve its finish.
“We should be one of the top teams in our division,” he said. “But we’re more concerned with how we execute the race. I’d rather do that really well and end up placing fourth.”
“Our plan is to go the first three miles as a team and the last two miles just see what we can do,” said sophomore Rod Koborsi. “We need to get a feel for running in a pack and get used to the competition and pressure.”
Henner says he does not plan to line up two-time All-American senior Chris Miltenberg, sophomore Chris Esselborn or stand-out first-year Chris Lukasic, though all three will play a large role in the NCAA Championship. Miltenberg and Esselborn are recovering from quad and calf injuries respectively.
“They are both healthy and did work-outs, but they are not 100 percent,” Henner said.
The Big East had four teams in the top 15 last year, but senior Mike Smith says the Hoyas men’s team are aiming to win the conference. “At the Big East Championship we’re going to come out fast and whoever wants to take it can take it,” he said.
Georgetown finished fourth last year in the Big East and 15th at the NCAA Championship.
Smith is impressed with the team’s depth and maturity, despite the fact that many of its top runners, such as Koborsi, Esselborn and sophomore Charles Millioen, are underclassmen. “All the experience in the world doesn’t matter if you’re not tough, and this team is tough as hell,” he said. “I feel like I can take a risk knowing that Rod Koborsi and [senior] Javon Broderick have my back. I think this is the best team Georgetown’s ever had.”
Henner is equally confident in the team’s ability to perform in big meets.
“This team is full of racers, and that by far outweighs any question of inexperience,” he said.
Koborsi points to the team’s unity as one of its greatest strengths. “Its not that hard to run well next to your best friend, rather than some guy who’s just wearing the same uniform as you,” he said.
