Brandt

Reimer

Watson

Cupido

Brown

Dingman

Grimm

KUTZTOWN, PA. (November 19, 2009) -- Members of the Kutztown University women's cross-country team took time from its training for this weekend's NCAA Championship meet to discuss -- in their own words -- what it means to qualify for NCAA championships, how they were able to bounce back from finishing fifth during the PSAC championships and what they were thinking during the halfway point of the Atlantic Regional championship meet.

Sit back and relax as Rebecca Brandt, Christina Reimer, Maureen Watson, Kristin Cupido, Cheryl Dingman, Keri Brown and Steph Grimm give you inside access into the insights of a cross-country runner. This is the second of three parts.

Link to Part One

      2.   After finishing fifth at PSAC meet, what was the biggest reason for the improvement the following week and a second place finish?

      Rebecca Brandt: Just proving ourselves to the conference and to ourselves that we can compete with them.  We worked so hard during the season and we weren't going to let a chance to compete at nationals slip through our hands.

      Cristina Reimer: Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to go to PSAC’s this year with my team because I sick with the flu the entire week leading up to the race.  Although, I did not go, eight other dedicated and driven runners went. Going into the weekend of the PSAC meet we were ranked second, so when I heard that we had placed fifth that day, I knew it wasn't because we weren't capable of placing at least second. All I could reason was that it just wasn't a "good day" for our team.  All the girls were very disappointed, and although I did not run, I felt for them as well, it's frustrating when you know your team is one of the top teams and has an ''off day'' at a big meet like the PSAC championships.  From that weekend on, both Kristen Cupido and I agreed that we as a team did not come this far, racing as well as we have this season to not make it to nationals. The improvement at regionals was to gain our confidence back, and show Shippensburg and Bloomsburg that we are in fact a team to compete with.  Regionals that day meant improving as a team and not letting go of our opportunity to qualify for nationals. 

      Maureen Watson: I would say the biggest reason for improvement was that we really needed to do much better this race to actually get to nationals. 

Keri Brown: I think a lot of our girls were just more rested and had fresher legs. Also we had to show to everyone what we really were made of. Our performance at the PSAC meet was not who we were. I think our heads were in the right place at the PSAC meet but, our bodies were just not feeling it that day. We are so much better than what that race indicated. At regionals we were there for redemption. We needed to prove to ourselves and to the whole region that we are not a team to take lightly and that we were the team that deserved that one more race this season...nationals!!!

Kristin Cupido: After the PSAC meet, we were down for a little bit, but we knew regionals was the meet that really counted.  We wanted to prove to everyone that we should go to nationals; that our success at other meets wasn’t a fluke.  We believed we could do it from the start of summer and we just had to keep working hard and we knew that our workouts were going in the right direction. We just had to lay it all out on the course.  After not making it the past two years by the slimmest of margins, I know we all wanted this so bad, especially our seniors.

Steph Grimm: Obviously, the PSAC championship meet was a disappointment. However, we all knew that our races that day were not indicative of the effort we put into every workout, pool practice, and recovery run. It just wasn't our day. We have emphasized thinking about nationals since the beginning of the season. Getting there has been our goal since Day One. We just refocused for regionals. People stepped up and raced hard and that has allowed us to meet our goal.

Cheryl Dingman: Motivation! We were very dissatisfied and we refocused ourselves. We were still training fairly hard through the week of PSAC, and knew that those workouts would benefit us come regionals when it really mattered. Everyone was hitting awesome times during workouts, so we were all confident that we were physically ready for this. It was just a matter of keeping our head in the game, not dwelling on the past, and moving forward with drive and desire. And being aggressive!

PART THREE WILL BE POSTED ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2009

--KU--