Cross country is the purest of man’s sports, with its roots not doubt deeply intertwined with the very instinct for survival; the flight or fight response. In evolutionary terms, it may have began 1.8 million years ago, when a young homo erectus began its first toddling steps on two legs. Standing upright due to two unique features--a hole in the base of its skull where the spine could enter, and locking knees--it pitted its unique skill against all the world had to offer, and all it had to fear. Eons passed, and migrating “out of Africa” from this “cradle of mankind” in East Africa, the development of biped motion has evolved into an unending quest for speed that subsequently expanded to all continents, eventually having reached Sperling Sports Complex, in Deland, Florida.
Women’s 5K Race
With a pre-race list of 84 entrants, it might be argued that everyone had the same chance of winning. However, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that the race would be between Brittany Thune of Belmont and Sara Mackenzie Howe of East Kennesaw State. Mirror opposites in personality, they are as alike as possible in athletic talent.
Thune and Howe have nearly identical high school (19:11 and 19:14) and college (17:39 and 17:42) PRs, respectively. Thune, a senior, was the defending A-Sun Champion and Runner of the Year. Howe, a junior, was undefeated in 2009, and had won an unprecedented nine conference Runner of the Week awards, five this year alone.
Each has been expertly coached to peak for this meet, but took different roads to reach that goal.
“Seth’s training…” Brittany began, referring to her coach, Seth Sheridan “…he likes more training. He likes to train for two weeks, then run a race, instead of racing every weekend. That, I feel, makes you fit at the end of the season. With other programs, you train hard in the summer and then improve each week. Seth’s makes you incrementally better as the season goes on.
“I’ve run only three races this season: The Belmont Opener (September 4th; finishing 10th in (a 4K) 14:47.32), The Louisville Classic (October 3rd; 14th in 17:39.52), and then the Evansville Invitational (October 17th; 1st in 17:54.60).”
Mackenzie, and her coach, Stan Sims, have taken a different approach. The results are equally impressive: six races, and six wins. Her last, on October 17th, produced a 17:42--closing to within three seconds of Thune’s best time--and came on the same Sperling course that the conference title would be decided.
Although they began several teams apart on the starting line, no sooner had the smoke from the starter’s pistol dissipated than the two favorites had found each other, and raced to the point where the course first narrows.
“I knew there would be a group of us at the first mile (5:25), and after that I was hoping to push, push, push ahead, progressively running faster during the race,” Thune explained. “I was very confident going in to the race. At the same time, I was better prepared. Perhaps I was a little hesitant, because she (Howe) had a great season. I knew she was going to be more competitive.”
And “she” was. In the early going, Brittany took the initiative, and the lead, but was never quite able to shake her conference challenger.
“Mackenzie put up a great fight; she pushed me the entire race,” admitted Thune.
“We’re both front runners,” added Howe. “There was a group of three…an Upstate girl (Jemeli Sang, fifth in 18:06). That’s the way I thought it would go. When we passed the two mile (11:03), she (Sang) was right behind her (Thune), but then she (Thune) picked it up, so I guess by mile three she was in the lead.
“I raced like I always do. I raced in front so that I wouldn’t get boxed in and waste energy getting back out. But it didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to. I guess it all came out as to who wanted it the most.”
Thune and Howe began their last loop through the woods together, but somewhere along a narrow trail, well out of sight of the majority of the spectators, the two well-conditioned contenders had parted company. Brittany Thune, it would seem, had found that “she wanted it most,” and emerged first with a commanding lead.
Thune, her smile seemingly as wide as her stride, passed under the clock in 17:17, which was her new PR by 22 seconds. Howe finished 14 seconds later, also in a personal best, 17:31.
Their work wasn’t over, however, because, as Mackenzie put it, “We have Regions in two weeks. We’ll be racing against the same people, and more. I’ve already run that course, but it’s a little longer, four something.”
“That’s the big one,” added Brittany. “That’s the one I’ve run my whole career for. That’s how we make nationals.”
Women’s Team Race
While all eyes were on the cash register--meaning the race for overall champion--a big green truck with a dolphin logo backed up to the delivery entrance and emptied out the store.
Belmont, the defending champion, had their sights set on repeating their 2008 win. Kennesaw State had justifiable aspirations to overturn that claim. And the University of North Florida, packed with four freshman and two sophomores--five former Florida superstars from an hour or so away, and a girl from half a world away--went relatively unnoticed until the results sheets were posted. (Because of said results, next year might be a different story.)
If anyone didn’t consider the Dolphins a threat to win, they just weren’t paying attention. For the past six years Jacksonville has been, well, “porpoising” their way to the front. In 2004, they finished eighth. They dove out of sight, and surfaced seventh in 2005. A year later, they submarined to sixth. They came in fourth in their fourth attempt, and were runner-ups in the last run up to ‘09.
Perhaps their most subtle move was not to run in the October 17th Hatter Invitational.
“Our top guys went to Indiana to run the (NCAA) Indiana State Pre-Nationals,” explained head coach, Ron Grigg.
“We finished 33rd of 37th. It was all the best teams. Since we ran the Hatter Invitational (in 2008, winning with 32 points), we already knew the course and did not have to run it as a preview. We wanted to throw ourselves into the best competition to prepare for this.”
Grigg went on to explain the challenges of coaching in Florida.
“Training in this climate is difficult because of the heat and humidity. We have to make the most of it. It shows nationally. The depth of our region doesn’t match that of other regions. After Florida and UF, it really drops off.”
(After that last statement, Grigg jogged off to accept the A-Sun Coach of the Year award. Upon returning, he continued.)
“We’re very familiar with this course, since we’ve raced it before. We also came here twice to train. It is very similar to our course at home, with its 90 degree turns. The terrain and the weather are very similar.”
Grigg’s enthusiasm for his A-Sun win showed in his accolades for his athletes.
“They (his girls team) had an unbelievable season, but this race was beyond my expectations…to have six girls on the all-conference team, when only five score, shows the depth of the program and their focus today.
“They pack really well. Our 4-5-6 ran a great race.”
“(Senior) Elizabeth (Goshu) let those guys go. She knew the top two girls were in a different class, so she ran conservatively, but ran well. Her hope was that other girls would go out too quick and Elsa (Elizabeth) could run them down later in the race. I tell them that championship races are about place. When they kept asking me what their times were, I wouldn’t tell them.”
I suppose it is safe to do so now (place, name and time, respectively): in 3rd was Elizabeth Goshu in 17:53, in 7th was Anastasia Fokina (18:10), in10th was Joanne Pierre (18:18), in 11th Allison Ritter (18:26), in 12th was Susanne Klungtveit (18:31), in 14th Kellie Midden (18:35), and in 34th Alyssa Deal (19:14).
Kennesaw State finished second (2-6-8-31-33-44-50; 80) and the University of North Florida, led by freshman Shelby Kittrell’s 18:02, was third (4-18-19-21-22-49-53).
11 teams and 79 runners scored.
Men’s 8K Race
Maybe it was his stature; standing at over six feet tall, Kenneth Rotich almost seemed better built for a 10,000 meter track race. Nonetheless, towering over the other front-runners in the race, he almost automatically drew the attention, and the worried looks, of the other runners. Or perhaps it was his maturity; the senior, majoring in sports management--born February 1, 1982--was, at 27, probably the oldest runner in the field. As he approaches the halcyon days of a distance runner, his calm exterior hides the fact that better days will follow, one after another. And then there’s the distance he has traveled to run here: all the way from Nairobi, Kenya. That is a long way to come and not put forth your best effort. In fact, five of the top six finishers had international connections, with three from his home country: Ken and his cousin, teammate Ben Ronoh (sixth in 26:05), and eventual second place finisher, Gilbert Kemboi, of the University of South Carolina, Upstate (25:36). (Nabil Hamid is from Kenya and Jaakko Nieminen from Finland.)
“He is extremely aerobically fit,” explained assistant coach, Josiah Leuenberger. “But when he gets into a kicking situation, it gets dangerous. His top end speed is not as great as some of the other athletes, but he is extremely strong. So I was telling him to press it in the third and fourth mile.”
And that he did. Kemboi, the only runner in the field who even managed to stay within striking distance was, nonetheless, well under Rotich’s spell.
“In a championship race, sometimes you have to run a smart race; to win as a team, rather than as an individual,” Ken explained. “When you run as a team, you help each other. When you run as an individual, you may run to set a PR.”
Of Kemboi, he said, “I did not have an idea of how he runs. I was trying to run my own race. I ran at the same pace almost throughout the race. That’s how I usually run. I’m not sure what was up with him, and didn’t look, but at some point the dropped off.”
Ken Rotich finished the 8K course in 25:31, only five seconds ahead of one last, late surge by Gilbert Kemboi. Kennesaw State’s Nabil Hamid was third (25:45), just a few strides ahead of Lipscomb’s Ryan Chastain (25:49). Jaakko Nieminen (Kennesaw) was the fifth, and last runner to break 26 (25:54).
Men’s Team Race
Although both Kennesaw (3-5-9) and ETSU (1-6-10) both placed three in the top ten, it was the Owl’s 12th (Scott Burley in 26:39) and 14th (Piotr Witzak in 26:45) place finishers that clinched for them. That exactly reversed the order of both the 2008 team order (ETSU was first in 2008, Kennesaw third), and the 2009 overall finish.11 teams and 78 runners scored.