There will be an occurrence Saturday that happens only once a year for the Mississippi State men’s and women’s cross country teams: A cross country meet in Starkville.The MSU Invitational will be held at the Mississippi Horse Park/Agri-Center with the men’s race beginning at 9 a.m. and the women’s race starting at 9:30 a.m.
The races for both the men and women will be shorter compared to what they have raced so far this season. The men’s race will be a 6K event, and the women’s will be a 4K event.
The course is the same that the team uses to train during the season. The familiarity of the course should lead to better results for both teams, senior runner Annie Falor said.
“We know the course well, from every hill and turn down to every hole, so it should help us a lot,” she said.
Due to the familiarity of the course, the teams will be able to focus on more specific goals.
The main focus on the women’s side of the race will be keeping the team together throughout the race.
“This meet will give us an opportunity to work on our pack running,” she said. “That’s one of our big problem areas.”
Keeping the group together until the end of the race was a problem during last week’s race at the Crimson Classic.
There was a 26-place difference out of the collegiate runners, between the third runner and fourth runner on the squad.
Women’s cross country head coach Al Schmidt said he expects a better performance from the number four and number five runners on the team.
Schmidt said he also hopes to use the home advantage for this weekend’s meet as a tool for recruiting.
“We’re definitely at an advantage, so it will help to perform well in front of recruits,” Schmidt said. “We have big-time talent coming in this weekend, so it would be good for us to get a win with them watching.”
Men’s cross country head coach Steve Dudley hopes for a good turn-out at the meet for the runners to show the home fans what they are capable of.
“We’re going to let the guys represent MSU and let them show Starkville what they’ve got,” he said.
The men’s team will attempt to keep up the impressive start that they have had this season.
After placing first in its first meet and second in last week’s Crimson Classic, the team expects to keep its hot streak going this week.
Junior runner Jonathan Rono, who has finished as the top runner for the men’s team in both races this season, expects to see a dominant performance Saturday.
“I think that we are going to dominate this meet as a team,” men’s junior runner Jonathan Rono said. “The course is tough and hilly, but we’re used to it because of our workouts.”
The sight of friends and family on the sidelines during the race could pay dividends for the members of both teams.
“As an athlete, you have people there that you know, so you get more adrenaline,” Dudley said.
“For example, who are you going to race harder for: your Mama and Daddy or somebody else’s?