The New Mexico cross country team is ready to officially start the 2015-2016 season in Indiana at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational today.
Head Coach Joe Franklin said the team is eager to put on the cleats for the first time and compete. He said they haven’t been in that environment for a while and hopes they can start building a national championship résumé.
“It’s the start of our new year with the goal always to be in contention for a Mountain West title and in contention to make the national championship,” Franklin said.
Expectations appear to be high outside of Albuquerque as well. The latest national coaches’ poll voted the women’s team No. 1 in the country and tabbed the men’s team at 17.
Both teams being ranked in the top 25 is in large part due to what the Lobos did at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships just last year in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women finished third in the country while the men returned with a 14th place showing.
Franklin said it took a little while for things to settle down when the rankings were revealed.
“The first day it came out, it was a little stressful. Now it’s okay. It’s what we are; it’s what the coaches think of you,” he said. “But, it has no bearing on making the national championship. So, it’s nice to be honored that way, but we haven’t run a step yet.”
Franklin said he believes it’s important for the team to stay loose. He said the athletes already put enough internal pressure on themselves without getting it from outside as well.
“This is a group of seasoned men and women. They are quality student athletes. It is part of what we’ve tried to build for the last eight years,” he said. “You set expectations and then do everything we can to meet the expectations.”
Franklin said he wasn’t sure how much altitude training will factor into Friday’s competition. He said he believes the first mile will be the fastest mile they run, but it’ll be what follows that really matters.
“We haven’t run real fast yet because we’re at altitude,” he said. “ It’s can we have that self-confidence at mile four on the men’s side and mile two on the women’s side to really push through.”
The men are set to begin at noon local time with the five-mile run and the women will begin at 12:45 with the five-kilometer run. Last year at this event, the women came in first place and the men came in third.
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The event will include several schools that have programs ranked in the top 30. The women’s field will include North Carolina State, Vanderbilt and the host Notre Dame. On the men’s side, Arizona State, Southern Utah, Colorado State, North Carolina State and Eastern Kentucky.
Robert Maler is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler
