The UA men’s and women’s cross-country teams will head to Seattle this weekend to compete in the Pacific 10 Conference Championship, and according to head coach James Li they are ready for it.
“”It’s going to be a really good test for us,”” Li said. “”We have been performing really well and we will go there and have a really good championship race.””
The Wildcats have had two weeks off since the pre-nationals to prepare for this weekend. That time was especially useful in getting runners healthy and getting some energy back.
“”Every workout that we do, we are just getting stronger and our interval times are getting stronger,”” said Megan Meyer. “”We are definitely ready for another race. In a race you give everything you have and it’s hard to do that every single weekend.””
The women will head into the weekend ranked No. 6 in the country. The University of Oregon is the only school ranked higher in the Pac-10 than them, sitting at No. 2 in the nation.
The women’s team is heading into the meet with their highest ranking in school history. They have finished in second place five times, most recently in 2001.
“”We are hoping to win, it would be the first time the UA women’s team has ever won,”” Meyer said. “”We are just going to go in there and do what we have to do.””
Meyer continued to say that although the team is shooting for first place they would not be disappointed if they fell to second place behind Oregon.
The men did not have a meet as successful as the women without their number-one runner, Stephen Sambu, who was out with a lower-leg injury.
“”It was just a pain right above my ankle,”” Sambu said. “”I feel great now, no pain, I feel like I am at 100 percent.””
The men have struggled this season with Sambu being the only bright spot. Sambu has only run in two races this year and he has won both.
Coach Li has speculated that Sambu is one of the top runners in the country, but would not be surprised if Sambu does not win this weekend. Li is worried Sambu might be a little out of shape after his injury sidelined him for a week. Sambu also pointed at runners from Stanford and Oregon who will be very tough competition.
The coaching staff has had trouble with consistency from the rest of the team. Coach Li has wanted the rest of the men to shave as much as a minute off their times.
The Wildcats will have to deal with some weather concerns in Seattle. There are rain showers and cold temperatures forecasted for the next several days which might leave the course muddy.
“”It’s no problem,”” Sambu said. “”We are ready, we will get through it.””
