Cross country 2008: A forecast

By David Hudson

Staff Writer

            Since the JCC Cross Country team began competing two years ago, the campus has seen some talented athletes come and go. During the 2007 season, the Jets went all the way to nationals, both male and female, for their division and left no question about their talent: they mean business.

            The team has two coaches, head coach Brian Olsen and assistant coach Mark Ott. They seem to cooperate quite well and there has never been any friction between the two, which is essential between the team’s success.

            Coach Olsen had a few things to say about the upcoming season. He said that with all of the upcoming talent, he thinks “it would be a great accomplishment for men to come in 10^th and for women to come in 15^th at nationals.” He says that as far as talent goes, he feels that our males and females can at least improve by about 30 seconds on the 8 kilometer and 5 kilometer races, respectively.

With returning runners and the promise of scholarships, Olsen intends to do a bit of a “time trial” before the season begins to test out the returning runners’ fitness. They will have to hit a mark time, say an 18 minute, 30 second time for a five kilometer run, to keep their scholarship. 

In closing, Olsen said that he’s excited about the upcoming season and that the team has some very tough competition, namely from Lansing Community College. He said that they have a lot of good athletes and that most of them are freshman, which means that there will be another battle for regionals between the two schools this year.

As for Ott, the assistant coach, he had a similar viewpoint of the team’s chances for victory next year. He said that he wanted to improve our team as a whole and wants to help everyone meet their goals individually as well. He also would like to compete at a higher level, “but that comes naturally.”

Ott said that he’d like it if the workouts were a bit tougher next year. He wants to do more race-pace tempo runs and race-geared training to secure the team a good spot at nationals. He thinks that the team will continue to see some real talent and that as they gain reputation, the JCCXC team will become increasingly noticed by local high scholars.

With all the incoming talent and returning athletes, along with two dedicated coaches, the harriers are looking to make a serious shot at winning regionals and finishing in the top 10 at nationals. For those looking to watch a home meet, the Jets will be having one on Friday, Oct. 10 at 4:30 pm. Be there, or be square.