The stakes are higher than usual when facing a fellow conference opponent, but imagine the height of an event where you will be facing all of them at once.
The Rutgers men’s cross country team is in that exact position this weekend when it heads to the Big East Championships Saturday in Kenosha, Wisc., to face its toughest competition yet.
Although it may be nerve-wracking to face conference rivals, junior Kevin Cronin thinks of it in a positive, rather than negative, light.
“We’re very competitive against our rivals in the Big East and we have to show them that we’re Rutgers and we’re better than them,” Cronin said. “It’s very exciting and very motivating to go to a race and know that you’re competing against rivals in the Big East.”
That added motivation is exactly what Cronin needs, as he has been nursing a bruised knee.
But just being in the zone in a race makes him block everything but his performance out of his mind.
“Most of the times, whenever I go into the race with an injury it doesn’t really affect my performance, mostly because I’m more focused on just running and not really what’s bothering me and what’s hurting,” Cronin said.
He is not all that worried about his knee, as it keeps getting better every day — perfect timing since the Scarlet Knights have set big goals for themselves this weekend.
If he had to depict the race in any way, head coach Mike Mulqueen would describe it in terms of two races.
“You got six teams that are nationally ranked and then you have from seven to 14,” he said.
Both Mulqueen and Cronin agree that the Knights’ focus is primarily on the second part of that race.
“I really feel like we can really show up this year and make a definite improvement, maybe even move up three spots because we were 10th last year, and maybe move up to the seventh,, which is really good in the Big East,” Cronin said.
Mulqueen said that the team’s practices and previous races this fall would bolster RU’s chances of placing higher than last year.
The team has shown improvement both place-wise and time-wise, which was its goal for the fall season, Mulqueen said.
The head coach also has no doubt the Knights will try to improve that goal Saturday.
“I think when they finish the race, I don’t think anybody who competed in the race will say, ‘I held back or I had more in me,’ or something like that,” he said. “I really think that they’ll put it out there because they’ve trained real hard and they’re excited for it.”
Regardless of what place the Knights finish the race in, Cronin wants the team to come out of the Championship with an increased sense of confidence.
“Well, our season isn’t over after this race so we want to gain more confidence going up against stronger runners or opponents going into Regionals,” Cronin said.
Big East rivals square off in conference championships
Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Be the first to comment on this article!