Runners
have a chance to go the distance
Photos by Matt
Brown/ Sports Information
Terrance Wroblewki finished as an All-Conference
runner in the Big West and set the best
time for a 49er runner in 20 years this
season and Nicole Blalock also received
the All-Conference honor, the first freshman
to do so in 20 years.
Cross
Country: Junior Terrance Wroblewski and
freshman Nicole Blalock will run in the
cross country NCAA West Region Championships
Saturday with the chance to become the first
Long Beach State runners to qualify for
the National Championships.
By
Michael Bower
On-line Forty-Niner
A
strong mental mind separates the good from
the great when it comes to cross country
running, and for the 49ers' Terrance Wroblewski
and Nicole Blalock they hope their mental
toughness makes them the first ever Long
Beach State athlete to qualify for the cross
country National Championships.
"[Wroblewski]
is definitely a tough little guy...when
it gets tough most people back down, but
he has the ability to grind it out,"
cross country head coach Geoff Masanet said.
"[Blalock]
is tough when it gets hard, and she really
has a strong mind," he said.
With
the NCAA Regional Championship beginning
on Saturday both junior Wroblewski and freshman
Blalock are gearing up for a final push
at qualifying for the National Championships,
which beginsNov. 24 in Iowa.
The top 25 runners in both the men and women's
Regional Championships in Portland, Ore.
qualify for the National Championships.
The top two teams in each of the nine regions
automatically qualify for the National Championships,
which leaves about seven spots open for
individual runners.
Masanet
said he thinks Wroblewski can be a contender
in the Regional Championships and possibly
make it to the National Championship by
grabbing one of the individual spots.
"In my mind there are about ten guys
fighting for those spots and he is one of
them," Masanet said.
Wroblewski
is not looking ahead to the National Championships
instead he is taking it one race at a time.
"If
some people are off and I am on that day,
I could win," said the junior about
the Regional Championship race. "As
long as I have a good race I am not going
to be disappointed. I had a good year."
Indeed
he did.
Wroblewski
posted a time of 25:56.6 at the Big West
Cross Country Championships last Saturday
at Cal Poly – good enough for 10th
place, and a Big West All-Conference honor.
Even
better than that was Wroblewski's run at
the Stanford Invitational earlier this season.
He placed 20th out of 175 runners and his
time of 24:45 was the best time recorded
at CSULB since the 1980s.
Blalock
is also putting up a stellar season for
the 49ers. She placed seventh in the Big
West Tournament and set a freshman-class
record by placing 29th at the Stanford Invitational
with a time of 22:23. She also garnered
a Big West All-Conference honor, becoming
the first freshman in 20 years to earn the
award.
"Her
high school performance would have never
shown her to do this," Masanet said.
Blalock
is not adding any extra pressure on herself
to qualify for the National Championship.
She said she just wants to run a good race.
"If
it happens it happens," she said. "But
I am not going to be disappointed if it
doesn't."
Masanet
thinks the best chance for Blalock would
be for her to just run like she has all
year.
"A
lot of people try to over do it, if she
just does what she has been doing it might
take care of its self," he said.
Masanet
is hoping one of his athletes can become
the first national qualifier in school history.
"We
never had a division one qualifier,"
he said. "If one of these guys makes
it then its cause for a huge celebration."
"We
never had a division one qualifier. If one
of these guys makes it then its cause for
a huge celebration."
-- Geoff Masanet
head coach
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