Aggie runners face great expectations in 2010
The Utah State men’s and women’s cross country teams stride into action this Saturday as they begin their respective seasons at the Utah State Open. The men are looking to build on their dynasty after winning their fifth consecutive WAC Championship in 2009 and return 10 runners this season. Junior Brian McKenna leads the Aggies this year. McKenna, who was the 2009 WAC Runner of the Year, expects the Aggies to have a special year in 2010.
“We are going to go all out,” said McKenna, who ran in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2009. “We set individual goals and as we bring those (goals) together we realize it’s going to take us as far as we have ever gone.”
“Big things are coming,” he added.
The Aggie men have built a special bond. The juniors and seniors have all experienced the Aggie tradition of winning championships, and as McKenna describes it, they are all very close friends.
“We have great dynamics between the guys. I don’t have any better friends than the guys on this team,” he said.
This summer the team spent a lot of time getting ready for the season. Aside from his weight training, McKenna and his teammates averaged between 70 and 90 miles of running each week in preparation for this season. “As always, we focused on high mileage over the summer,” McKenna said. “The further you run, the better you’ll run.”
An academic all-WAC selection, McKenna is the embodiment of a student-athlete. He said that while many of USU’s athletes can feel overwhelmed with the extra stress that comes from competing at such a high level, he himself has found that running cross country has helped him in other areas of his life.
“I feel like running more than anything helps me learn from my mistakes, and that has helped me to be motivated in all aspects of my life,” he said.
The Aggie men are excited to show the rest of the nation what they are capable of when they travel to South Bend, Ind. on Oct. 1 to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational.
“It’s our best gauge for where we are as a team,” McKenna said. “We will be up against some big schools.”
The Utah State men’s team isn’t the only cross country unit facing great expectations in 2010. The women have just as much, if not more, to prove this season. They are coming off a second place finish at last year’s WAC cross country championships and are returning all but one runner from last year’s team. Senior Kim Quinn, who placed 19th at last year’s championships, pointed out that this year’s team should be the favorite to win the WAC.
Like the men, the women have been hard at work in training for the season. Over the summer, Quinn and her teammates worked on building a base for this season. Recently the Aggies held their cross country camp in Altamont, Utah, giving the runners a chance to train hard together and bond as a team.
With so many returners and a group of great freshmen, Quinn is hopeful that the Aggie women will have what it takes to win by the end of the season. “It’s my senior year so I want to do better than I have done before,” she said. “As a team we want to win conference.”
The Utah State Open will be held at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah at 9 a.m.
– jordan.allred@aggiemail.usu.edu