ELLE YESNES (AS1) races in the Bulldog Classic at Ewing Park in Des Moines on Sept. 4. The cross country team has been working all season for this weekend’s MVC Championships in Peoria, Ill.. Photo: Tyler O'Neil
MEN’S
The Drake men’s cross country team posted a powerful finish Oct. 16 at the Bradley Invite – the team’s final tune-up race before the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Saturday.
Led, once again, by Jeff Grassmeyer (E4), the Bulldogs placed fifth out of 16 teams, beating out MVC rivals Bradley, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Creighton.
Grassmeyer placed sixth out of 158 runners with a time of 25:29.
“The Bradley race was very good for the team,” Colin Hagan (B2) said. “A couple of the guys stepped up, had a good race and really helped the team out.”
The MVC Pre-Meet Coaches’ Poll has Drake set to place fourth behind Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Illinois State. Coach Dan Hostager believes this year’s conference championship will be extremely competitive.
“A few points could separate first from second, and a few more could separate second place from eighth place,” Hostager said. “There are a lot of schools in the Valley that have been racing extremely well and that is reflected in the U.S. Coach’s Midwest Regional Polls with five MVC Schools being ranked ahead of many Big 10 and Big 12 schools.”
Hostager said he believes the team’s preparation up to this point is one of its strongest assets.
“We’ve planned for this by going to some very competitive meets throughout the fall season and racing some of the very best teams in the nation,” Hostager said.
Both Hagan and Grassmeyer also said that Hostager has designed his squad’s practice schedule to have his runners feel as fresh as possible at this part of the season, and both said they feel the team is ready for Saturday’s race.
Drake looks to use its collective fitness to beat out less balanced teams.
“What coach has been telling us at practice is the same thing he has been saying all year,” Hagan said. “He reminds us that we have great fitness and that the key to our success will be coming into the race fresh and prepared to compete.”
Drake will use the confidence gained from previous meets to ensure an advantage.
“It’s very important that we don’t get too nervous and try to run someone else’s race or go out way too fast,” Hostager said.
Both Hostager and team members said the squad should rely on the knowledge gained this season thus far.
“We need to enter the meet with confidence, but, at the same time, realize that it’s just another meet, exactly the same distance we’ve been doing all season,” Grassmeyer said. “We can’t overthink anything”
WOMEN’S
The women’s squad had similar results to the men at the Bradley Invite, with Casey McDermott (AS3) leading the pack with a fifth-place finish and time of 21:50. The Bulldogs placed ninth overall, ahead of MVC teams Southern Illinois and Creighton.
The women’s pre-meet poll has Drake finishing eighth out of 10 schools, with Wichita State as the favorite. Hostager said he believes his team will perform much better than expected if the runners can remain healthy for race day, as a few of the athletes on the team have recently battled the flu.
Like the men’s team, the women will rely on its fitness, mental toughness and experience.
“Our fitness is there, so I think that all we need to do to be prepared is stay healthy and have a good mindset,” runner Cammy Dole (B1) said. “Coach has been telling us that we are all in excellent shape and that we need to simply be careful of overdoing it this week at workouts.”
McDermott also said she was confident in her team’s fitness, agreeing with Dole that Drake’s main focus this week will be staying fresh while maintaining intensity in practice.
“Fatigue will play a role in the MVC for teams who have been overdoing volume and intensity,” McDermott said. “Fatigue should not be a factor for our team.”
The MVC Championship will be held at the Newman Golf Course Saturday, Oct. 31 in Peoria, Ill., starting at 11 a.m.
