Running involves a strong mentality, the desire to push yourself until the race is completely finished.
Although the team's season is over, Longwood cross country head coach Catherine Hanson will bring just two of her runners to compete individually in one of the most prestigious meets on the East Coast -- the IC4A in the Bronx, New York.
“I wouldn’t take my whole team to that meet simply because they wouldn’t be competitive, just like you wouldn’t take an uncompetitive team to a national championship,” said Hanson.
Junior Gracie Piekarski and senior Russell Reed have consistently led their teams for the entirety of the fall and hold top 10 positions in Longwood’s record books.
IC4A is short for ICAAAA, which stands for Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America. Although the IC4A is a separate body, the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) holds the administrative reins over the association.
The IC4A has held this cross country meet for 107 years, solely for Division I competition. Within the event, programs spanning different conferences can compete.
Therefore, Piekarski and Reed will likely face some of the best competition in the country from some of the largest schools, like nationally-ranked No. 13 Georgetown University.
Hanson explained that what made the IC4A so special, aside from its age, was its reliance on the coaches of schools to decide if their runners are able to compete. The runner selection is based on a coach’s “word of mouth” and “honor,” she said.
“It’s the only race where it's the coach’s discretion to enter based on honesty,” said Hanson.
It had been three years since Hanson had felt one of her runners had the ability to go to the Bronx, back in the days of women’s 6K and 5K record holder Alisha Royal.
Piekarski’s current 5K personal record (PR) of 18:37 as a junior is within 15 seconds of Royal’s record set in 2012. Hanson believes Piekarski has the mindset and the momentum to attain that goal.
“The fact that she has the running bug really bad this year, she’s confident as a racer, and I think it’s her stomping ground up there, it’s the New York area, and she’s going to shine on her own turf,” said Hanson. “She’s getting faster every week…she’s phenomenal.”
Reed is still searching to overcome his battle with lower back tightness and pain to break the 8K record. Despite his struggles towards the end of the season, Hanson still believes that he deserves to go.
“He hasn’t quite run the times that I thought that he needed to solidly, repetitiously this season, but he’s Russell and I’m sure he’ll pull it together because he usually always does,” said Hanson. “Russell is 150 percent work horse. He’s one of the toughest people I’ve met in my life. He’s a racer.”
Finishing in the top 14 of their respective races gives the runner the honor of being named All-East, one of the best on this coast.
In order to do so, Hanson speculated that Piekarski will have to drop seven seconds from her PR or more, meaning a finish in less than 18:30 to reach that top bracket. Reed will more than likely have to break 26 minutes for the first time in official competition.
Only one Longwood runner has slipped beneath the 26 minute barrier. Former Lancer Adam Hutton set the 8K record in 2005 at 25:38, giving him a 22 second cushion.
Reed has still yet to drop below the 26-minute mark in practice.
“Once or twice this season he’s come close, but he has not,” said Hanson on whether Reed had scored the time.
For Reed, it will be a final opportunity to represent Longwood in a race and mark the end of his four-year cross country campaign. Piekarski will still have another year left to build off her success this season and potentially return to the IC4A next year.
Even with Reed’s exit, Hanson believes the future of Longwood cross country looks bright with recruits coming in from around the country, including West Coast states like Washington.
The IC4A race will bring more exposure to the program and provide a new experience to Reed and Piekarski as they travel to New York on Saturday, Nov. 21.
Senior Russell Reed and Junior Gracie Piekarski will travel with cross country head coach Catherine Hanson to the prestigious IC4A meet in Bronx, New York to run as individuals.
