This Friday, Oct. 8th, the men’s and women’s cross country team hit the road to compete at Michigan Intercollegiate race. The race, hosted by Hillsdale College, is the last major competition until the GLIAC Championships on Oct. 22nd.
The men’s team had two top 25 finishers in the 8k run, with freshman Kavi Kulkarni posting a time of 28:31, good enough for 20th place, and Tellis Donajkowski finishing 23rd with a time of 28:51. However, the team as a whole finished on the bottom half of the competitors. That could be the side effect of top runners such as Joey Southgate and Eddie Komph getting a much-needed break in preparation for the GLIAC Conference meet.
“It was more of a training week, for the guys especially,” head coach Rod Cowan said. “Most of our top guys took the week off.”
With the men being ranked 16th in the country, Cowan has high expectations for his team.
Allowing runners who need a break to stay active is something unique to cross country, Hillsdale provided that opportunity with a women’s 4k run. SVSU’s Allison Dorr snagged first place in the event with a 14:37 finish.
“It was about getting in quality work, that’s the beauty of our sport,” Cowan said.
A lack of top runners was not a problem on the women’s side, however. The SVSU women put up a strong showing in the 5k race, finishing second overall to Hillsdale. Individually, SVSU had two top 10 finishers, with Christina Micale pulling in fourth place with a 19:25 run and sophomore Dominique Adams finishing 10th at 19:54. Runner Sophia Bradley and freshman runner Sydney Kreger also had strong performances, finishing in the top 15.
“We did really good,” Adams said. “The Hillsdale course was big and more challenging compared to local courses. The course was a pretty good challenge for us, and it’s good for us to get out there and experience some different terrain.”
The ladies showed that there is a lot more to running than what most people think.
“It was mentally hard on us,” Adams said. “It really showed our progress as a young team.”
Coming into the GLIAC Championships, the team plans on sticking to what has proven to work.
“We’re just going to put in the work for the next two weeks, working together and pushing each other to do our best,” Adams said.
