The Cornell cross country team kicks off its season with a bang today as it battles Army. The Black Knights should provide interesting matchups for the Red men and women who last blew away their competition at the IC4A’s and ECAC’s, respectively.
“We’re ready to race,” senior star Geoff Van Fleet confided. “It’s going to be a good race, but it’s not going to be easy.”
The Red returns four of its top five men. Army, however, returns all of its top five and finished 15th in the nation last season.
“The goal of this year’s squad will be to make a trip to the NCAA’s,” Army head coach Jerry Quiller had stated.
Army is led by senior Clay Schwabe, a former Blacksburg High School standout.
The Red has a well-devised plan for victory.
“We’ll keep relaxed for the first couple of miles then pull it out at the end,” Van Fleet said.
Racing on its home course, Cornell may hold an advantage. However, the tracksters don’t expect that to have a great impact.
“It’s great to have people out there cheering you on, but it’s not a huge advantage,” Van Fleet said.
Expectations are also high for both women’s teams.
It is year one of the post-Meredith Freimer ’01 era for the Red and a number of underclassmen look to fill her shoes. Junior Carlan Gray hopes to extend on her brilliant ECAC peformance last season. Similarly, Jessica Parrott, Aliza Cohen, and Kinsy Miller round out a stud sophomore class.
Archived article by Sumeet Sarin