49er's
cross country team inspired by Masanet's
methods
By
Renee Lemus
On-line Forty-Niner
In
the first race of the season, both the men's
and women's cross counrty team did not perform
as well as they might have hoped.
Both
teams attended a meet at UC Santa Barbara'a
Lagoon course. On the men's side, Terrance
Wroblewski came in first for The Beach,
but 20th overall with a time of 25 minutes
42 seconds for a five-mile race. Coming
in second for The Beach was Brian Stehmeier,
he placed 28th overall with a time of 25:58.
The
women finished slightly better with top
runner Nicole Blalock coming in seventh
overall with a time of 18:13 setting a new
freshman record.
Coming in next was Crystal Roethlisberger
who finished 10th with a time of 18:32 and
Sharon Burnett taking 25th with a time of
19:18 in the 3.1 mile race.
Both
cross country teams competed against UC
Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
The men had an extra competitor with the
UCSB Alumni competing as well.
The
final scores for the men's team were Santa
Barbara 15, Cal Poly SLO 33, UCSB Alumni
59 and Long Beach State 72. This was a disappointing
loss for both teams but not necessarily
a predictor of the future for the 49er runners.
"This
is the strongest team we've ever had,"
said senior runner Diane Mendoza. She says
the team has become better since new coach
Jeoff Masanet joined the team last season.
"He
is an amazing coach that has really turned
the team around," said Mendoza.
Last
season the team had fewer runners, forcing
all athletes to compete in every race, this
led to many injuries. This season more runners
came out for the team making it stronger.
And the new training tactics from coach
Masanet has allowed for fewer injuries.
Mendoza said. Masanet has been improving
the team and "keeps making it better."
Aside
from the improving performance of the team,
Mendoza said it's the mutual support the
runners have for each other that makes the
team so great.
"We
not only support each other in running but
also in our everyday lives," Mendoza
said.
This
support and new-found strength should lead
to a successful and victorious season according
to Mendoza.
"We
have a lot of school pride and that's what
keeps us going," Mendoza said. "Go
Beach."
"We
have a lot of school pride and that's what
keeps
us going...go Beach."
-- Diane Mendoza, senior cross county runner
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