Cross Country trims times for fourth place
On Sept. 17, The men’s cross country team traveled to Mercer University where they competed in the Mercer RunFit Invitational.
Out of the 15 teams than ran, the Bobcats took fourth place and had on overall team score of 105, coming in behind the third place finisher Darton College, who finished with a team score of 102. Taking first in the race was the host, Mercer, with an overall score of 35 points and Savannah College of Art Design claimed second place with a team score of 38.
gcsunade | gcsunade.comCrossing the finish line first for the Bobcats was senior Tyler Mattix. He led the team with a time of 26:38, placing 12th overall on the 8k course.
“I’m very pleased with my performance,” Mattix said. “I’m pleased with the way I felt, too. I felt good afterwards.”
Senior Dan Horseman followed closely behind Mattix, finishing with a time of 26:48 and taking 15th place. Fellow senior Colin Conroy, crossed the finish in 27:13, claiming the 20th spot. The next GC runner to finish was sophomore Philip Laskey, in 27:54 in 31st place. Senior Rob Manning finished just behind Laskey, taking 34th with a time of 28:01.
“I’m extremely pleased,” Assistant Coach Rich Dobson said. “I didn’t think they would be able to run this fast this quickly. They’ve already matched or even surpassed their times from this time last year.”
“We smoked our times from last year,” Mattix said.
Both Mattix and Horseman etched their names in GC’s record books with their finishes at Mercer. Mattix’s 26:43 finish marks the fifth fastest in GC history, and Horseman’s time of 26:48 ranks in at the eighth fastest time.
Horseman said that while the team is happy with their current performance, they still see room for improvement.
“We’ve been saying that September is the month of fatigued legs because we have four races in four weeks. We’re never running on fresh legs,” Horseman said. “Being fresh can lead to faster times.”
Like the runners, the coaches are also wary of excessive tiredness. Dobson said, “We’ve been asking the guys to be mindful of their fatigue. We’ve been trying to give them plenty of time to recover.”
The coaching staff has monitored the team’s fatigue level and has accommodated the runners by slightly altering training schedules as they feel the tiring effects of back-to-back races.
Given ample time to rest, Horseman said that he expects the team will post even better times.
“We have a race in Boston this weekend, and then after that we have a week off,” Horseman said. “A week off can do a lot for your legs.”
The race in Boston, the 44th annual Codfish Bowl, will take place on Sep. 24 and will mark the end of the “month of fatigued legs.” It will also present much competition.
“There will be some very fast runners in Boston,” Dobson said. He hopes that the high level of competition will motivate the team to post even faster times.
According to Horseman, the overall level of competition has increased. “This is probably the most solid cross country team Georgia College has ever had, but other teams from other schools can probably say the same thing.”
Regardless, Mattix and Horseman agree that the GC cross country team will continue to see steady improvement.
“By the time conference and regionals roll aroundconference we’ll be laying smoke,” Mattix said.
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