The seniors of the SIU men’s cross country will look to add one more championship to an impressive legacy Saturday.
The SIU cross country team will travel upstate to defend its crown at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Peoria as it searches for its third consecutive conference championship.
Even though it has won the previous two conference championships, SIU cross country head coach Matt Sparks said everybody on the team still has to come out and have their best race.
“Even though we are going in as a heavy favorite, I told the guys not to overlook anybody and they know that nothing is going to come easy,” he said.
Going into the tournament, the men’s team is projected to win while the women’s team is projected to finish fifth. Last year the men’s team finished with a total of 37 points, beating Indiana State by only three points. The women’s team finished in fourth place with 101 total points.
Senior runner Jeff Schirmer said the team’s focus remains on the MVC Championship right now, but it is also looking toward the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 14 in Springfield, Mo.
“We have to go out this weekend and then at regionals and give it everything we got,” Schirmer said. “We don’t want regionals to be our last race.”
Senior runner Mohamed Mohamed said the team is coming off from a couple bad performances, but it is ready to go out and prove they are still one of the best teams in the nation.
The SIU women’s cross country team will also be compete at the MVC Championships in Peoria.
Sparks said the women’s race is going to be a coin toss because the competition is equal around the board.
“The women’s team is as capable as any other team of winning this weekend and it is about putting all the pieces together,” Sparks said.
Junior runner Megan Hoelscher said the team has to race its best race on Saturday because the competition is so close.
“There are going to be three or four teams at the meet that are really good teams and if we all do what we need to do than we can take first or second,” Hoelscher said.
Mohammed said he is excited for the younger runners on the team because he is already familiar with being a national caliber runner as well as a conference champion.
“I want to do this for the team,” Mohammed said. “I am most excited for the younger runners because I want to give them the experience that I was given a couple of years ago.”
Ryan Simonin can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 282.
