Oct. 3, 2008

We're right in the middle of our cross country season and things are really starting to heat up. Last weekend at the Stanford Invitational, we had our first real chance to see how we stack up against some of the top teams in the Region and our biggest Conference rivals. We have such a young team and it was only our third race of the year, so our performance really could have gone either way. I know it's said all the time, "We have a young team," but we are really taking it to a new level right now. At Stanford, we were without myself and our only other upperclassman, Byron (I'm redshirting this season and Byron was sitting out the meet to rest an injury), so it was up to our team of only freshmen and sophomores to take on this high class field.

While it's an exciting proposition to field such a young team, it's also very very nerve-racking. In the race, as has been the case all year, two of our freshmen, Gambi and Jeremy, went 1-2 for us. They've been training really well together by pushing each other in practice and I've really been putting my summer training to good use keeping up with them in workouts. I was glad to see that Josh ran a good race as well. He put himself in a really good position early in the race by running with Gambi and Jeremy and he held on to finish third for us. Overall, we finished 13th out of about 30 teams and ahead of both Santa Clara and LMU, both of whom for the last three years at the Conference meet, we've been in pretty tight competition with. Which means that even though it was good to see the team running well against other WCC schools, it's a big priority to remind our young guys that running well at the end of September means nothing if you can't bring it in November. So, we gave ourselves a little pat on the back for a job well done and went right back to work getting ready for our next meet.

As exciting as it was to see our team run at Stanford, I'm actually even more excited for the meet this weekend at UC Davis. One reason is that I'll be competing instead of just watching and the other is that the team that will be competing at the end of the year will really start to take shape. Having so many guys with so little college racing experience means we are constantly evaluating who will be the top 7 guys that we want racing at the Conference and Regional meets. Outside of Gambi and Jeremy, who have consistently led the team, the next 5 spots could go to any of our next 10 guys. This weekend, with Gambi and Jeremy sitting out, the coaches have let the rest of the guys know that now is the time to distinguish themselves from the rest of the team. One of the most exciting things about this sport is that in situations like this, there is very little guesswork. While playing time and batting orders require very subjective decisions by the coaches, we have the objective luxury of the clock by which we can make our decisions. So, if somebody wants a spot on the team at the end of the season, all they have to do is get from the starting line to the finish and do it faster than the guy next to him. It's simple, it's serious, and I can't wait to see who wants it the most this weekend.