The Women’s Cross Country team plans to hit the ground running for this year’s start of the cross country season. The team competed in Macomb, IL on Friday, September 1 at the WIU Early Bird Invitational, which was the first meet of the season.
“For the past meet at WIU, I’d say mentally what helped me prepare for it was thinking back to how much work I’ve put into practices,” Junior Cassidy Wingers said. “Practices are what help us train for races, and I know that working hard in practices pays off in the end.”
The team finished third out of the six teams that competed in the meet. Even though they did not come in first, senior and team captain, Sierra Scanlan, still has high hopes for the rest of the season and looking ahead, hopes to improve from last year’s conference results.
“I would like to see our team grow as individuals and as a whole from last season. There’s a lot of potential within our team and I know we can do great things,” Scanlan stated. “Last year’s conference race ended up being a tough one for many people because it fell on a hot day but I’m hoping we can use the lessons we’ve learned to have a better conference race this season.”
As a team captain, Scanlan has to keep the team motivated all season long. With such a large team, this can be a difficult task.
“Our team is big, there’s no questions about that and as a captain, I want each and every girl to know they matter to our team and our program. I try my best to make our team environment a healthy and positive one where people are able to grow.”
Scanlan uses the support of her team, as she aims to make this their best season yet, especially since this will be her last cross country season at Augustana.
“Cross country may seem like an individualized sport to some, but it’s so much more than that,” Scanlan said. “My motivation for the upcoming season is to use the strength in the girl next to me. Those girls remind me I am capable of anything if I want it badly enough.”
The team’s next meet will be the Bradley Intercollegiates on September 15 in Peoria, IL.