The Mississippi State men’s and women’s cross country teams will return to the racing course Friday to take part in the Crimson Classic.Both teams will be looking to continue their winning ways following their season-opening wins at the Sewanee Invitational.
While the men’s cross country team was glad for the win at the Sewanee, men’s head coach Steve Dudley definitely sees the Crimson Classic as a more important meet.
“There are some places, like the Sewanee, where you should expect victory and anything less would be a disappointment,” Dudley said. “I want to see things happen that aren’t as expected – like finishing with the top two individuals at the Crimson Classic.”
The Classic will feature several Southeastern Conference schools, including Ole Miss, LSU and Alabama, the top-ranked team in the district.
The squad will be battling those SEC schools throughout the season.
The momentum from the season’s first meet should give them an added boost as well, Dudley said.
“Wins give us the confidence that what we’re doing is working,” he said. “We definitely want to keep that momentum going this weekend.”
Dudley said the off-week between the races should also help the team perform well.
He said he tries to schedule off-weeks between races to allow for down time and extra training between races.
The men’s team will enter the maximum number of 12 participants in the race.
Among those racing for the men’s side in the Crimson Classic will be Jonathan Rono, who is fresh off a first place finish at the Sewanee Invitational, and freshman Ben Blankenship, who finished in second place at the Sewanee Invitational.
Blankenship was also named the SEC Male Freshman of the Week for his finish at the event.
The women’s side will also be looking for a repeat performance from the Sewanee.
“Overall, we performed very well at the Sewanee Invitational, but now we’re looking ahead at the Crimson Classic.”
The women’s team, which is ranked 10th in its region, will look to improve on that ranking.
At the same time, Schmidt said he knows other teams will be looking to beat his squad because of the ranking and because they won the meet last season.
“There will be three SEC teams at the race besides us, and we’ll have a target on us,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt hopes the extra rest that came as a result from not racing a week ago will help the team Friday.
“We trained really hard last week,” he said. “Our main objective is to come out refreshed and to come home with the hardware.