September 9, 2014

CROSS COUNTRY | Cornell Cross Country Takes on Army Friday for Season Opener

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By ANNA JOHNSON

This weekend, the Cornell cross country team will gear up for its first meet of the season with a matchup against Army. Coming off a solid week of practices and strong leadership from the captains on both sides, the Red is poised for success.

The dual style of the meet will make for a fitting start to the season, according to men’s co-captain senior David Melly.

“I’m really excited to open up our season at Army — we have a great relationship with those guys and it’s a fun and relatively low-key way to start the season,” he said.  “Because it’s just a dual meet rather than a large invitational with dozens of teams, it’s a great way to work on team strategy.”

According to Melly, the Red will work to build off of the team’s depth right out of the gates in this first meet of the season, hoping to set the tone for those to follow.

“You can bet we will be packing up and keeping things under control for the first half of the race,” Melly said.  “There’s a big hill in the middle of the course that tends to string people out, and we’re going to try to stay as close as possible to test the depth and cohesion of our top-seven.”

Senior co-captain Collard, who has helped lead preseason practices, looks forward to the season opener. (CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR)