By Mitchell Gilbert |
At many schools around the country, cross country is a sport focused primarily around the performance of individuals rather than the team.
However for both the men’s and women’s teams at UP, a strong community atmosphere and hard work ethic across the board are their greatest strengths.
With a men’s team that is ranked first in the WCC and seventh in the nation, and a women’s team that is hoping to make a run into the national spotlight, UP’s cross country program is looking to take steps toward earning more recognition in the national spotlight.
Over the past few years they have begun to improve drastically, both as a team and as individuals.
“It feels as though our team is really a tight-knit group,” said Ryan Poland, a transfer student from the University of Oklahoma. “We are all friends with one another and as a result we hold each other accountable.”
While both teams have a strong community, competition within the team is an important aspect of the team’s improvement as a unit. Each of the runners competes constantly for the top seven or nine spots on the teams’ roster. If they can earn their spot, they receive a spot in the coming race. By focusing on improving the team as a whole, UP’s teams avoid a potentially hostile situation.
On both teams runners said they understand that they may need to sacrifice their position on varsity in order to benefit the team as a whole. This year’s top runners, Woody Kincaid and Scott Fauble for the men’s team and Laura Hottentrot and Gina Paletta on the women’s, have worked hard to earn their spots as the teams’ elite runners.
Poland experienced this competition firsthand. Having redshirted as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, Poland has seen what it is like to run at a different, and much larger, school.
“At University of Portland the races are not focused primarily upon individual success,” Poland said. “Here we focus on the team bringing out the best in the individual, not the individual bringing out the best in the team.”
This idea is also prevalent with the UP women’s cross country team.
“It is so much easier for us to do well when we can rely on our teammates. I know that if they are giving their best effort I need to give my best effort as well,” said redshirt senior Marit Tegelaar.
It is apparent that this strong sense of community is paying off, with teams that have been improving steadily over the last few years.
“I think that we are in a unique position. We are right on the bubble of becoming a national caliber team,” junior Tansey Lynstad said. “We are on the upswing.”
Lynstad competed this past weekend in Eugene, Ore. at the Bill Dellinger Invitational. She said she understands the challenges that becoming a nationally ranked team entails.
“We ran this weekend against some very fast girls from all different schools in the region,” Lynstad said. “It was hard not to focus on how fast some of the girls were, but it is important to put that in the back of our minds and focus solely upon improving ourselves.”
However, there also have been some great achievements for these women runners this season. They raced against BYU, one of the best teams in the region, and only lost by a small margin.
“It got us super excited to begin racing again and I think we will definitely be ready to face them again at conference later this year,” Lynstad said.
The men’s cross country team is in a different situation, having already earned national recognition.
“We try not to focus upon the big lofty goals, and rather what we can control. Improving everyday both individually and as a team,” Poland said.
“We understand that if we want to improve and do well in races we are going to have to work hard,” Poland said. “ We have potential to be one of the best teams in UP’s history, and if we focus upon improving ourselves everyday we can meet that potential.”
