Last time at Home

As I sit here at my desk thinking about tomorrow’s competition, I can’t help but get excited. However, the more I think about it, the more upset I get. Tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., I will race for the last time on the Blue and White Golf Course. Kara Millhouse, Chris Cipro, Vince McNally, Owen Dawson, Kyle Dawson and I will lace up our spikes for the last time at home this weekend, and will be recognized as the six seniors for the 2011 cross-country squad after the competition is complete. There is no other way to describe it than bittersweet. I’m upset because it is my last time on the home course and because I feel like I’ve finally figured out how to race it, but I’m happy and excited because it means that championship season is coming. But more about that later…

            Friday morning the men’s race will kick off the competition at 10 a.m., with the Nittany Lions toeing the line against, what should be there biggest competition for the day, Grand Valley State who is ranked 3^rd in DIII. On the women’s side, we will see a little more competition. We will match up with West Virginia who is ranked 19^th in the Nation, just one spot ahead of us. We will focus on their yellow and blue uniforms and try to stay ahead of as many of them as we can. Teams that will also make a run at us are UConn and Duke. While UConn is unranked, Duke is ranked 26^th so we want to make sure we can prove that we deserve our ranking and we can do that by staying ahead of Duke and beating West Virginia. It will not be easy; all the teams will provide a different challenge for us. What we need to do is run tough and push all the way through the line.

            The Blue and White golf course, where the Penn State National is held, is a challenging 6-kilometer course. Even though the first mile is all downhill, it is important to conserve some energy for the last mile and a half. After about two miles we start to make the climb to the finish. This is when we will really need to stay tough. Coach Sullivan always says, “This is where the rubber hits the road.” What she means by this is that this is where the pain starts to sink in. This is where the course separates the women from the girls. We have to remember that the reward of working hard and pushing through the pain is better than the feeling of defeat. It is the greatest feeling in the world to cross the finish line and be happy with your race. Of course there are going to be things you can do better, there always are. But hopefully tomorrow the Penn State men and women will put everything on the line and push until the end. If we can do that tomorrow, I am sure that we will be happy with the outcome and we will gain confidence going into Championship season.