The MSU men’s and women’s cross country teams finished the season Saturday at the 2009 NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“We turned it around after SECs,” head coach Al Schmidt said. “We had a couple of girls who didn’t have their best races, but we had enough, four others, that did.”
The women placed thirteenth with 340 points, and the men placed ninth with 298.
“It’s by far the best we’ve run tactically as a team,” Assistant coach Houston Franks said. “We ran as a pack much better.”
For the women, junior Simone Domingue had an incredible race, running a career best placing 31st at 21:29.75 seconds, Schmidt said.
“Simone has been consistent, but she hasn’t had a great race until now,” he said.
Domingue solved some racing problems which helped her to reach her capabilities, he said.
With No. 1 runner sophomore Renee Masterson redshirted with a damaged nerve, Domingue has asserted herself as a potential NCAA national racer, Schmidt said.
“It takes a while to figure out how to race against the best in this country, and I think she has figured it out,” he said.
Schmidt said Domonique Lockhart, who ran 22:17.59, will perform well in track season running the middle distances.
Two runners had problems in the race. Freshman Chloe Phillips ran 22:51.17, but in the early stages of the race outpaced herself and could not maintain the speed. Freshman Haley Greenwell ran a 23:19.72, but lost a shoe and fell during the race, Schmidt said.
“I think if things had gone perfect, we’d have been as high as eighth or ninth, but that’s about as far as we could have gone with it.”
The women ended the season ranked in the region.
“We came into the meet unranked, and we came out thirteenth,” Domingue said. “It’s a really large race, and running 6k on a very hilly course is mentally hard, but everyone fought hard and ran tough. It was a good way to end off the year.”
Junior Adam Lenz and Senior Daniel Simpkins led the men with a time of 31:57.91 and 32:10.28, respectively. Freshman Chase Rathke followed behind at 32:47.77.
Daniel Simpkins had his best cross country season ever, and looks to score well in the steeplechase for the SEC outdoor track season and at least the first, Schmidt said.
Redshirt freshman Rob Ellis was struck by a car last Thursday, and he had a bruised hip. He got pushed during the race and stepped awkwardly, so, unfortunately, he could not finish, Franks said.
“That hurt, but that’s part of it,” Franks said. “With around 30 teams finishing ninth is good, but it’s not ultimately where we want to go.”
Losing Ellis and Senior Cameron Vincent to injury were two massive blows.
“It would be the same thing as having two of your starting guards not play,” Franks said. “That would be the analogy in that you start five people in basketball and you score five people in cross country. You take two of your top five out of the equation.”
Additionally, Rathke has dealt with iron deficiency problems, but he has learned to take care of the issue, Schmidt said. Once a runner knows how to solve the problem, he or she makes huge improvements.
“With better eating and supplementation from team doctors, he’ll be just fine,” Schmidt said. “Red meat is a good thing. At an agricultural university that raises beef, we should start listening to our people.”
The injuries and illnesses have hindered the Bulldogs this season.
“We’ve been a little snake bit this year, but that is part of it,” Franks said. “We’ve got to overcome those things. We can’t use that as an excuse.”
Schmidt said he acknowledged the time trial as the turning point for the team.
“The good thing about the time trial is that they learned how much you are supposed to hurt,” he said. “You can’t really pace and think you’re saving it for something. By the end you’ve got to be very happy that the race is over with.”
The future looks bright for the young squad, Schmidt said.
“I think if they had one more race, it would be even better,” he said. “Believe it or not, in track and field and cross country you can make mistakes in racing, and I think one more race, we would have gotten rid of any other mistakes that they made.”
The season has given valuable experience to a young team which exceeded some expectations, Franks said.
“We’re going to take a week off next week, and then it’s back to the grindstone,” he said.