Saturday was our first race of the season, and by all accounts, it was a success. Historically, we've always opened our season with a home race, and unlike most other teams on campus, it's our only chance to compete on our home campus. Not having raced since Founders' Day weekend in May, it was a little difficult for me to get back into the racing mindset.
We've been doing some faster runs and interval work as a team for the last two weeks, but those workouts are all about hitting times, not about beating the people you're running with. On race day, especially early in the season in cross-country, it's not about how fast you go, but where you finish. Although the race went out fast, due to an early charge by New Paltz, who had been scouting us and were looking for an upset, we stayed in control and let them fall back to us. I personally tried to maintain visual contact with the lead group for as long as possible, and was happy to see our burgundy and white jerseys catch most of the New Paltz team by 2 kilometers.
From that point on, our pack was in control. Although we didn't take the #1 individual spot, as a team, we put our entire scoring seven in the top ten scorers. Personally, my time improved by exactly a minute over last year's effort on the same course, good enough for a top ten finish, and better yet, a t-shirt. More importantly, it helped keep our trophy mug in Vassar's hands for another year.
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