Friday, October 30
Cary, N.C.
TBA
Boston College
vs
2020 ACC Cross Country Championship
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Eagles Hitting Stride As ACC Championship Beckons
October 28, 2020 | Women's Cross Country, #ForBoston Files
Uphill battles? Maybe these teams should run Heartbreak.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Distance runners in college grow accustomed to a full year's routine. They run outside in the fall in cross country and watch the seasons change from summer to fall before moving indoors to develop skills on some of Boston's banked indoor tracks. They share facilities and speed through race times before spring time moves them back outside, at which point the year crescendos into a traditional athletics exhibition.
They improve through the conventional and work tirelessly all year, which is why this sport, perhaps more than any other, was thrown into chaos when COVID-19 destroyed the calendar last spring. The outdoor track season vanished, and the fall season shifted into something more unconventional. The large competitions, so often a proving ground to watch and learn from other runners, went up in smoke, replaced instead by the isolation.
Through it all, Boston College women's cross country continued to move forward. The Eagles arrived back on campus this fall and powered through their pandemic-shortened autumn season as best as possible. They persevered, and this weekend, they will take the fields of Cary, N.C to race alongside some of the nation's best programs at the Atlantic Coast Conference women's cross country championship.
"It's a crazy sport because (runners) run as individuals," head coach Randy Thomas said. "You line up and try to beat everyone else, and your score is lower as you beat more people. But we have a great team spirit, and everyone gets along well. I couldn't be happier with this team with all the handicaps that have been out there. We're positive, and we're excited. They want to go down to North Carolina and beat as many teams on that starting line."
For BC, even running at ACC's is an accomplishment worth celebrating after spring track prematurely ended when COVID-19 broke out in March. It canceled the rest of the outdoor season and sent student-athletes home to work out as individuals for an extended offseason, during which their fall season remained in flux. Conferences postponed or outright canceled, and the NCAA delayed the national championship race. Last November, BC finished 20th at nationals.
The fluid situation especially scrapped the Northeast region. The group of 44 teams was reduced to three, including BC, and all but ended the two-month buildup to the championship season. It forced the team to reconfigure on the fly, and the Eagles hosted a three-team meet with Syracuse and Army - the only other Northeast schools - before heading to Florida State for a 10-team powerhouse event.
"It was tough but extremely beneficial," Thomas said. "(Army, BC and Syracuse) got together as a group of three in September, and (FSU) invited us down there to run. It was tough to cobble together a schedule, but the two races we got helped us tremendously. Instead of going from March until October 30 without a race, we've had races in the interim."
The result was a highly successful hardening for runners who could have otherwise been left rusty. Lauren White finished second in the Three-Team Battle in Beantown and followed it up with a third place finish at the Florida State Invitational. After finishing third among Syracuse and Army at home, the Eagles finished fifth in Florida, one point behind Georgia. Their top five finishers averaged a 27th place finish with four runners in the top 40, and BC placed ahead of both Clemson and Miami, as well as Mississippi State, Florida, and Auburn.
"You have to harden yourself as a runner," Thomas said. "It's a nonstop sport. There are no timeouts or quarter breaks. There are no halftimes to make adjustments. They just go out there for 22 minutes, over 6,000 meters, and it's nonstop. So having those couple of races was extremely beneficial because it would've been much tougher to go directly into the ACC's without those two races."
That process and training have BC primed to build upon its status in the ACC after last year's seventh place finish at the conference meet. The runners are just starting to hit their stride after the way the year started, but the two meets strengthened their commitment to the training side of running. They understand how to perform at peak levels before winter lashes New England with cold and snow, and their urgency is felt in training with the uncertainty facing indoor seasons ahead. They are running every day as if it's their last, together, which in turn makes them a very dangerous team for the rest of the league.
"We've had to get to our hard hill sessions and Brookline track sessions a little earlier," Thomas said. "It was just a different type of planning, but I think they're starting to come around. There's going to be a second season, technically, because cross country is going to go from January 23 to March 15, but we're going to have to figure out how to train for a cross country season (in winter). During the fall, I plan training on a Sunday by looking at the whole week, but it's going to become daily. Even if you do get warm weather, the winds are nasty and we're fighting elements. But that toughens our kids up. They could've gone to school elsewhere, but they chose Boston College. That's going to drive them, and that's really good stuff.
"Lauren has a great shot to be in the top ten," he said. "Our No. 2, Anna Oeser, is coming off of an illness but is extremely fit and ready to go. I think she can place well, and if we can get our next three home, we can finish in the top six or seven teams. We were seventh last year, and the conference is so difficult. The top teams are NC State, Florida State, North Carolina, and Notre Dame. Syracuse is also very good. Those teams are going to be locked to compete."
The 2020 ACC Women's Cross Country Championship will take place on Friday, October 30, in Cary, N.C. The meet will be televised online via the ACC Network Extra with live scoring available on TheACC.com. Additionally, a recap show will be televised on ACC Network on November 8 at 7 p.m.
They improve through the conventional and work tirelessly all year, which is why this sport, perhaps more than any other, was thrown into chaos when COVID-19 destroyed the calendar last spring. The outdoor track season vanished, and the fall season shifted into something more unconventional. The large competitions, so often a proving ground to watch and learn from other runners, went up in smoke, replaced instead by the isolation.
Through it all, Boston College women's cross country continued to move forward. The Eagles arrived back on campus this fall and powered through their pandemic-shortened autumn season as best as possible. They persevered, and this weekend, they will take the fields of Cary, N.C to race alongside some of the nation's best programs at the Atlantic Coast Conference women's cross country championship.
"It's a crazy sport because (runners) run as individuals," head coach Randy Thomas said. "You line up and try to beat everyone else, and your score is lower as you beat more people. But we have a great team spirit, and everyone gets along well. I couldn't be happier with this team with all the handicaps that have been out there. We're positive, and we're excited. They want to go down to North Carolina and beat as many teams on that starting line."
For BC, even running at ACC's is an accomplishment worth celebrating after spring track prematurely ended when COVID-19 broke out in March. It canceled the rest of the outdoor season and sent student-athletes home to work out as individuals for an extended offseason, during which their fall season remained in flux. Conferences postponed or outright canceled, and the NCAA delayed the national championship race. Last November, BC finished 20th at nationals.
The fluid situation especially scrapped the Northeast region. The group of 44 teams was reduced to three, including BC, and all but ended the two-month buildup to the championship season. It forced the team to reconfigure on the fly, and the Eagles hosted a three-team meet with Syracuse and Army - the only other Northeast schools - before heading to Florida State for a 10-team powerhouse event.
"It was tough but extremely beneficial," Thomas said. "(Army, BC and Syracuse) got together as a group of three in September, and (FSU) invited us down there to run. It was tough to cobble together a schedule, but the two races we got helped us tremendously. Instead of going from March until October 30 without a race, we've had races in the interim."
The result was a highly successful hardening for runners who could have otherwise been left rusty. Lauren White finished second in the Three-Team Battle in Beantown and followed it up with a third place finish at the Florida State Invitational. After finishing third among Syracuse and Army at home, the Eagles finished fifth in Florida, one point behind Georgia. Their top five finishers averaged a 27th place finish with four runners in the top 40, and BC placed ahead of both Clemson and Miami, as well as Mississippi State, Florida, and Auburn.
"You have to harden yourself as a runner," Thomas said. "It's a nonstop sport. There are no timeouts or quarter breaks. There are no halftimes to make adjustments. They just go out there for 22 minutes, over 6,000 meters, and it's nonstop. So having those couple of races was extremely beneficial because it would've been much tougher to go directly into the ACC's without those two races."
That process and training have BC primed to build upon its status in the ACC after last year's seventh place finish at the conference meet. The runners are just starting to hit their stride after the way the year started, but the two meets strengthened their commitment to the training side of running. They understand how to perform at peak levels before winter lashes New England with cold and snow, and their urgency is felt in training with the uncertainty facing indoor seasons ahead. They are running every day as if it's their last, together, which in turn makes them a very dangerous team for the rest of the league.
"We've had to get to our hard hill sessions and Brookline track sessions a little earlier," Thomas said. "It was just a different type of planning, but I think they're starting to come around. There's going to be a second season, technically, because cross country is going to go from January 23 to March 15, but we're going to have to figure out how to train for a cross country season (in winter). During the fall, I plan training on a Sunday by looking at the whole week, but it's going to become daily. Even if you do get warm weather, the winds are nasty and we're fighting elements. But that toughens our kids up. They could've gone to school elsewhere, but they chose Boston College. That's going to drive them, and that's really good stuff.
"Lauren has a great shot to be in the top ten," he said. "Our No. 2, Anna Oeser, is coming off of an illness but is extremely fit and ready to go. I think she can place well, and if we can get our next three home, we can finish in the top six or seven teams. We were seventh last year, and the conference is so difficult. The top teams are NC State, Florida State, North Carolina, and Notre Dame. Syracuse is also very good. Those teams are going to be locked to compete."
The 2020 ACC Women's Cross Country Championship will take place on Friday, October 30, in Cary, N.C. The meet will be televised online via the ACC Network Extra with live scoring available on TheACC.com. Additionally, a recap show will be televised on ACC Network on November 8 at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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