The UNM cross country team takes its first big test of the season at the Adidas Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. today.
Six nationally ranked women’s teams, including the No. 2 Lobos, will take part in the field of 28 in the 5,000-meter race.
On the men’s side seven of the 27 are nationally ranked, including the No. 21 Lobos.
Head coach Joe Franklin said he knows what to expect from his upperclassmen in a meet like this one but not his newcomers.
“I know what the other guys can do,” Franklin said. “We’re worried about how the new kids deal with this type of race, because obviously it’s a big race.”
Some of the new Lobos competing in today’s race are Kirsten Follett, Janna Mitsos, Vincent Montoya, Patrick Ortiz and Edwin Herring.
Franklin said he was impressed by both Herring and Follett in their first race at the 2011 Lobo Cross Country Invitational in early September, where Follett finished seventh on the women’s side and Herring 19th for the men.
They will join three Lobos who competed in Notre Dame who finished well in the invite last season.
Seniors Natalie Gray and Ruth Senior finished 10th and 16th, respectively, and Nicholas Kipruto finished in second place last year.
The race is the largest one for the Lobos until the MWC Championships one month away.
Ultimately all of the runners have to take care of their bodies and that’s something Franklin said he can’t stress enough.
“We had one student the other day that said ‘I just didn’t sweat much,’” Franklin said. “He ended up having to have four liters of fluid because he was dehydrated.”
The Lobos have national championship aspirations down the road, something that can happen only if the athletes are healthy.
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“If we can get to the end of the year with everybody healthy, we should have a pretty good team,” Franklin said.
The other ranked women’s teams are No. 7 Florida State, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 22 Princeton, No. 28 Penn State and No. 29 Brigham Young University (BYU).
For the men, No. 3 Stanford, No. 10 Florida State, No. 12 Princeton, No. 14 BYU, No. 23 Notre Dame and No. 25 Penn State are the other top-ranked schools running the five-mile race.
Franklin said this race will test the abilities of a young squad that is nationally recognized and has high expectations.
“This is a different group from last year, there’s no doubt about it,” Franklin said. “It’s just getting used to everything. This is the first one.”
