Cross country team races past the competition

The cross country team has just capped off an exciting season. This year, senior David Herren, who recently finished 11th at the regional meet, will represent Tech at the NCAA Championships.

"Last Saturday, I qualified for the National [tourney], which was not necessarily expected but was certainly welcomed. I just happened to have a really good day on the right day and went along with the guys pulling me through workouts. It was just a great way for me to end my cross country career here, and it lets me say goodbye to the sport in a good way," Herren said.

Herren, a former all-ACC Academic member, finished first for the Jackets at the ACC Championships' 8K in a time of 23:35. Senior Cristan Duvall was second for the Jackets at both of these meets.

"It wasn't really just me. There were a lot of times during work-outs that I wouldn't had finished if it had not been for some of the guys stepping up, including [Duvall] and [Emory Clarence] Gibbs during the repeats. It was more of a collaborative effort with those guys rather than just a solo thing...I think one of the biggest guys to step up this year was Matt Hickey,...[who is] one of the hardest workers on the team, if not the hardest worker on the team," Herren said.

Senior Elena Linn also led the women's team at the ACC tournament and the regional meet. She recently earned All-South Region Honors for her outing at her last cross country meet of her collegiate career.

"Everybody pretty much [earned their personal record time] and we just had some bad meets and some bad times, like at ACC [tournament], but overall we really showed the kind of strength that we're capable of," Linn said.

Earlier this fall, the Jackets ran past the competition in long strides at the UTC Invitational. At this event, the Jackets finished first amongst the women's teams, with seven members in the top 25.

The Tech teams performed well at the Vanderbilt Classic. At this event, Herren, Iain Turnball and Duvall were the first three Jackets to cross the finish line.

They finished with times less than 27 minutes. The women's side, led by Linn, Jenny Sims and Lindsey Pickens, also finished second at Vandy.

"[The pre-nationals] is where the three of us, Nisha [Kurian], Jenny and myself, finished at the top and showed what we could do and that [this] was a step in the right direction...It was just a very good team effort and we all just relied on each other during the race to support each other, and we just needed to keep up there, get out there and stick with the pack," Linn said.

The teams have much to celebrate after a great season. They finished No. 1 at the UTC Invitational, No. 2 at the Vanderbilt Invitational and No. 3 at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic.

"[With track], you have a team around you whereas in cross country, a lot of the guys are by themselves, and it makes it much more difficult to get miles in. So, we generally have a lot better preparation for track just because of the quality you're able to have in your workouts with others," Herren said.

"Having a really strong cross country season is like having a really great base support for track. During cross country, we really focus on miles and endurance, which are really key when running track...It gives us a good confidence boost for track," Linn said. The team finished up the season at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 19, wrapping up a largely successful year.