DePaul Cross Country: Racing to Regionals
On Friday, November 12, 2021, DePaul’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams competed in the NCAA Division 1 Midwest Regional Championship in Iowa City. The Men raced a 10k race and the Women raced a 6k race. Both teams battled through snow, 20 mph winds, and mud to reach the finish line. They spent the week prior preparing for the competition.
The championship portion of the cross country season began at the BIG EAST Conference Championship where the the Men’s team placed fifth, the highest Blue Demon finish since joining the conference, while the women placed eighth. Following that victorious weekend, the athletes went back to work in preparation for their final race of the season, Regionals.
There were two weeks separating the two championship competitions, and the first week following BIG EAST went by quickly. Days and miles flowed into one another in a rhythm that both teams recognized as the air they breathe: a couple of recovery mileage runs; two workouts, the more specific type of runs that are fast, difficult, and work to make the athlete quicker; a mid-week long run; a few double runs; a long run; and two weight lifting sessions. Also at practice, the teams continued to go through their daily warm-up/drill sequence that consists of A-skips, B-skips, high knees, and bounds, among others, for example. Drills are important because if done correctly, they can improve an athlete’s posture and form during races which will make them faster; the better the form, the less energy the athlete needs to use to run fast. Following drills, the teams do four “strides” or sprints diagonally across Wish Field to “open up” and to get their legs acclimated to faster running that will be needed at the start and finish of the race. There were no races in-between BIG EAST and Regionals, so the team spent that weekend, besides their long run, of course, relaxing.
And soon enough, Regional’s week was upon them. Both teams woke up Monday knowing that they had the chance to do something great that Friday during the competition. To prepare their bodies for fast running, the week took on more of a lax tone. Mileage was brought down slightly and weight lifting sessions focused on the maintenance of body mechanics instead of building strength which the sessions had previously focused on during the early and middle parts of the season. For example, during Regionals week, athletes did planks with adduction in order to maintain hip mobility instead of doing heavy back squats. The coaching staff wanted to make sure that nobody would have sore muscles on race day because sore muscles have the potential to effect performances. Racing with sore muscles would have been an added challenge to the already more challenging course and intensity of the Regional race, and the coaches and athletes wanted to minimize any extra difficulties. Moreover, the athletes took additional precaution for eliminating sore muscles by taking ice baths. Ice baths are important to the muscle recovery process and for making sure legs are “fresh” before the race. Most of the runners took an ice bath two, three, or four days prior to the Regional race, and some even took them more than once during that final week of preparation.
On Thursday, one day before the race, the team would be physically relaxed, recovered, and ready to compete. The only thing left to do was to finish preparing the mind. To do this, the team departed Lincoln Park to Iowa City Thursday morning at 9 am to allow for enough time to spend the afternoon previewing and running on the course in-person before the race the next day.
The course, Ashton Cross Country Course, turned out to be quite simplistic; a wide path cut out of a field of wheat and other plants. It was, technically, two separate courses layered on top of one another because the men ran a farther distance than the women, however both courses are understandable on one map. The following image illustrates the Men’s course: two loops following the solid gold arrows, half loop in reverse following the striped gold and white, and the dotted white line to the finish. The Women’s course is just the first part of the Men’s race: two loops following the solid gold arrows and finishing on the dotted white line, cutting out the middle section of the loop where the Men run for part of their race.
After reviewing the course maps, both teams did a short run, about four to six miles, on the course to get understanding of where the turns were located, the size of the hills, and the spots where mud had puddled. They also previewed the course to get a general understanding of where the pain was going to set in. Some athletes use a course preview run to help them create a race visualization. Race visualization is a process in which an athlete goes through an imagined version of themselves racing the course to prepare themselves mentally for maintaining confidence through the challenges that they will face in the real race. In terms of the course, the most challenging aspect was a large, steep hill that turned over into a bumpy downhill after about two steps of reaching the top. This hill was located near the 5k marker in the 10k race map featured above, and the hill would be an aspect of a race visualization to prevent the athlete from being surprised by it during the actual competition.
After the short course run, the athletes lace up their spikes to get in a few “strides” or sprints off the starting line. These strides help the athletes “open up” and get loose after a long bus ride and before a competition. Doing them off the start line also prepares them for the race because they will know how to best angle their start to get in a good position before the first turn.
Once the athletes finished their strides, they removed their spikes, took a few pictures, and headed to the hotel.
At the hotel, the athletes relaxed by eating dinner and having their final team meeting. During the team meeting, the coach passed out their racing “bibs” or papers with their individual numbers. The Midwest Region has roughly 32 teams, which is around 225 competitors. That amount of people in one important race called for extra precautions. Each person had to wear a front, back, and two hip stickers with their number to make sure everyone in the race was accounted for correctly as they crossed the finish line. Also during the meeting, the coach talked about how everyone had the opportunity to have a great race. “All the hay is in the barn.” The only thing left to do was to believe in the work they put in, believe in their capabilities, and believe in their teammates, and they would have a great race.
Click on the following hyperlinks to listen to pre-race interviews by members of the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Team: Men, Women.
The night ended quickly and the athletes woke up on Friday morning. It was race day! The morning before the race was filled with oatmeal breakfasts and hydration before they loaded onto the bus that took them to the course. Once there, the Women’s Team, whose race was at 11:00 am, went into their tent to keep warm by avoiding the wind and snow before it was time to warm-up for the race. After about half an hour, the Men’s Team exited the bus and went into the tent. By that time, it was time for the Women’s Team to get in their warm-up. They ran a mile and a half together an hour before the starting gun was scheduled to go off. They made their way to box 24, which was their starting position. It was cold. It was windy. But, the Women’s team was having a fun time. They smiled and laughed with one another as they did their warm-up drills and strides. It was going to be their last cross country race together that season, and there was a certain purpose in making it a good one.
Eventually, the women removed their warm outer layers, leaving only their shorts, long sleeve shirts, and jerseys. Some of the women kept their gloves and hat on as well. They gathered behind the line, and the race official made his way to the center of the starting stretch in front of them. And then, the official shot the gun. The race was off. The Women’s race began as a clumped pack of people stumbling over the hills. Some people went down and were tramped, however, none of DePaul’s team fell. After about two miles, the race spread out, and the pace picked up. And finally, after six kilometers, all the Blue Demons made it through the finish line.
Meanwhile, during the Women’s race, the Men’s team warmed up. The Women finished their race and went to the starting line, box 25 for the men, to wish their teammates good luck. And then, at 11:50 am, the starting gun was shot once again. The men were off, and similar to the women’s race, the they raced in a large, clumped pack for about the first two miles of the race before spreading out. The men had to face the challenge of running two extra kilometers during their Regional race which was longer than they had been running earlier in the season(up until Regionals, the men run an 8k). Fortunately, all the Blue Demons reached the finish.
By the end of the competition, the Women’s team took 25th place, which is the best the Women’s team had placed in the Midwest Regional since 2010, and the Men’s Team also took 25th place. One individual, Olivia Borowiak, took 26th place which was the first top-30 finish for DePaul's Women’s Team at the Midwest Regional since 2007. Overall, the Blue Demons had a successful day.
