Cross Country

Without proper planning, the week-after-week nature of meets during a track season that stretches from January to June can wear runners down by championship time.

Coach April Likhite must balance building her athletes up through training and keeping them fresh, putting them in position to peak at the biggest meets on the schedule while ensuring each individual peak is better than the last.

“When you’ve got meets in a row like this, you’ve got to listen to your body and watch your training so you’re ready for the next race,” junior Rachel Weathered said. “But at the same time you’ve got to get something out of your training,”

It’s a delicate and unending process, and it’s why the Cats’ trip to the Grand Valley State Big Meet on Friday is full of layers of strategy for Likhite.

For sophomore stalwarts Andrea Ostenso and Jena Pianin, the Cats’ two All-Region honorees during the fall season, that means entrance in shorter races. After running the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter, respectively, at last weekend’s Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, Pianin is entered in the mile and 800-meter and Ostenso is entered in the mile and 3,000-meter this weekend.

With both pushing hard on the way to top-10 finishes in their events at South Bend and with another big meet at Notre Dame looming next weekend, Likhite is hoping to save their legs in the shorter races.

“We’re having Andy and Jena race down a bit so they’ll be more ready for next week,” she said. “We’re focusing more on speed for them this meet.”

For others, like Weathered, the meet will be a chance to gain seasoning and experience at longer distances. After posting a personal best in the mile last weekend, she’s excited by the chance to shift gears and test herself in a 3,000-meter race this meet.

“It’s going to be a different race tactically, I haven’t run the 3K since freshman year,” she said. “I want to push myself, see if I can pick it up after that first mile.”

Likhite is pleased that she’ll have the chances to give her team some burn in longer races, even if it’s outside an athlete’s comfort zone on the track.

The Cats’ ability to travel to a meet of this caliber at Grand Valley State, with 58 teams in total entered, is a boon for a squad looking to use the meet as an extension of training rather than a smaller, less-challenging meet locally.

“This is a meet we’ve been looking at going to for a long time,” Likhite said. “It’s a very good meet and a very big meet for the Midwest.”

With NU’s newfound scheduling abilities and the vision of Likhite and her runners, even a seemingly innocuous trip to Allendale, Michigan, is all a part of the plan. 

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