Spring Break
Cross country places 21st at Pre-NCAAs
Erika Hadley
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Sports
"It was amazing but also kind of disheartening because the competition was so fierce there," Veatch said. "You run really, really well and then you look and realize how far back you still are. But at the same time you have to put it in perspective and realize if I was in a different race anywhere else in the country I'd be really far ahead. These were some of the best people in the country, and I was just happy that I ran my best race."
Perry, as a freshman on the team this year, has had a different experience from Veatch and Sovacool with this being his first year running 8K races instead of 5Ks.
"It's definitely weird coming through the 5K and knowing that I still have 3K to go, but this is the third 8K I've done, so I'm starting to get used to it," Perry said.
Mandrell has mentioned Perry's performance as being top-notch for a freshman on Miami's team.
"Perry's time of 24:51 was very fast," Mandrell said. "He's probably as fast a freshman as we've ever had, and that was just an absolutely great performance on his part."
During Saturday's race, Perry also fulfilled his own season-long personal goal of breaking 25 minutes.
"Coming into this season I wanted to break 25 and I did that, so I was really happy about that," Perry said. "I was 133rd, running faster than I did in high school for an extra two miles, so there's definitely a lot of work to do, but I was really happy with my race."
The team will next compete at the MAC Championships Oct. 27 at Central Michigan University.
"We'll be one of the team's that can go into the MAC Championships and honestly look at it and say we have a shot it," Mandrell said.
The results from this weekend's meet have raised the team's spirits and drive for a strong end-of-the-season finish.
"We though it was going to be a rebuilding year this year, and after yesterday we were just like, wow, we're ready to go," Veatch said. "It was good to go straight from Pre-Nationals into MACs, and we have all this momentum and everybody's really excited now, so it's going to be a good race."
Perry, as a freshman on the team this year, has had a different experience from Veatch and Sovacool with this being his first year running 8K races instead of 5Ks.
"It's definitely weird coming through the 5K and knowing that I still have 3K to go, but this is the third 8K I've done, so I'm starting to get used to it," Perry said.
Mandrell has mentioned Perry's performance as being top-notch for a freshman on Miami's team.
"Perry's time of 24:51 was very fast," Mandrell said. "He's probably as fast a freshman as we've ever had, and that was just an absolutely great performance on his part."
During Saturday's race, Perry also fulfilled his own season-long personal goal of breaking 25 minutes.
"Coming into this season I wanted to break 25 and I did that, so I was really happy about that," Perry said. "I was 133rd, running faster than I did in high school for an extra two miles, so there's definitely a lot of work to do, but I was really happy with my race."
The team will next compete at the MAC Championships Oct. 27 at Central Michigan University.
"We'll be one of the team's that can go into the MAC Championships and honestly look at it and say we have a shot it," Mandrell said.
The results from this weekend's meet have raised the team's spirits and drive for a strong end-of-the-season finish.
"We though it was going to be a rebuilding year this year, and after yesterday we were just like, wow, we're ready to go," Veatch said. "It was good to go straight from Pre-Nationals into MACs, and we have all this momentum and everybody's really excited now, so it's going to be a good race."
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