Colorado State University Athletics
Cross country preview: Rams rested, ready for MWC championships
10/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 27, 2010
By Chris Feller
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Championship season begins Friday for Colorado State’s cross country teams as the Rams head to Laramie, Wyo., to compete in the Mountain West Conference championships.
CSU will look to duplicate its early season success on Jacoby’s Golf Course, where both teams took first at the Wyoming Invitational in September. Ellie Keyser should have no problem feeling comfortable, as she owns the course record there. Head Coach Bryan Berryhill feels this will play an important roll in the Rams’ success.
“The biggest advantage is going to be having the confidence from already running a good race on this course,” Berryhill stated.
To find that success CSU will have to get past the highly favored New Mexico Lobos in both races. New Mexico comes into Friday ranked 12th in the country on the men’s side and 10th on the women’s side. BYU will also create a challenge, entering the men’s race ranked 13th nationally. Berryhill also believes Air Force will add to the competition in the men’s 8,000-meter race.
The women’s 6,000-meter race gets under way at 10 a.m. MT followed by the men’s 8,000-meters at 11 a.m. MT.
The Rams hope to improve on last year’s third-place finish on the women’s side and fourth-place finish in the men’s race. To do so, the coaching staff has given the teams a slightly easier training load over the previous two weeks.
“I thought the first two races we looked good and then the last two we’ve looked a little tired,” Berryhill mentioned. “As a result we’ve started to back off in practice the last week and-a-ahalf.”
If CSU can find the same success as it did the last time it ran in Laramie, the Rams will head to Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete in the Mountain regionals on Nov. 13.