By Amanda Stowe |
The men’s cross country team finished 7th nationally last year, and they are ready to do it again this year.
The team practices twice a day to prepare for the 2014 NCAA championships. Their practices are tough and they keep long hours, but these are necessary sacrifices if the team hopes to be serious competitors nationally.
Even with an intense practice schedule, the men try to find time to relax and enjoy the few moments they don’t spend in their sneakers.
Like so many students, Scott Fauble, an All-American who placed 13th in the 2013 NCAA Championships, looks forward to days when he can settle in a comfortable spot and enjoy some much-needed downtime.
“Netflix, laying down and burritos are the big three highlights of the day for us,” Fauble said.
Fauble earned his bachelor’s in psychology in 2014. He is currently a graduate student, pursuing a master’s degree in education. He utilized his redshirt season in 2010, and will be with the Pilots for his fifth year this fall. Running for the Pilots has changed his life.
“The way I see the world has been through the lens of running,” Fauble said. “I’m going to pursue post-collegiate running in the spring and in the summer.”
David Perry, another fifth-year runner who placed 102nd at the 2013 NCAA championships, says running for the Pilots inspired him to launch a business.
“I’ve been starting my own men’s running-inspired clothing line for the past two years,” Perry said.
His clothing line, BLK RBN, will debut in Sept. 2015. The idea came to him while running for the Pilots, and was refined while he took part in the E-Scholars Program. Perry is a graduate student who earned his bachelor’s in entrepreneurship in 2014, and is pursuing a master’s in business administration.
“My brand came to fruition when I was running with these guys,” Perry said.
Running is a way of life for the athletes. They get up early in the morning to practice, and then practice again later in the day. But the grueling practices, long hours and aching muscles have benefitted the team. They find beauty in the rainy, frigid weather that defines Portland.
“Everyone celebrates the victory,” Perry said. “No one celebrates the struggle, which is arguably more important.”
Cross country is scored on an individual, not team, basis. The finishing place of an individual is his score for the race. Five individuals’ scores are added together to give a team a final score. Whichever team has the lowest collective times wins the race, meaning one person’s score can greatly affect the team’s overall performance.
Being mentally tough is what separates conference leaders from the national leaders.
“I think that ability to mentally and physically suffer is the hardest thing that we’ve come to in life,” Perry said. “Our sport is a sport that surrounds itself in suffering, and nothing we do in life is going to be this hard…that’s reassuring.”
Getting support from the community makes the suffering a bit more tolerable. While they appreciate the high-fives from the Chiles Center staff, the team gets really energized when fellow classmates attend meets and follow them on Twitter.
“At the end of the day that’s what it’s about, it’s all about the Twitter followers,” Fauble said. “We’ll know there’s some support when we get the Twitter followers.”
“And come to the races,” Perry added. “I don’t know, is that weird? It would be so cool to see a homie from school at a race, I’ve never seen that…and bring the honeys.”
“The babes and the Twitter followers, that’s what’s important to us, that’s why we run,” Fauble said.
Amanda Stowe is a sports reporter for the Beacon. She can be reached by email at stowea17@up.edu or on Twitter @StoweAmanda.
