Temple University Athletics
Saturday, October 31
Greenville, N.C. (East Carolina University)
TBA
Temple University
at
American Athletic Conference Championships
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Cross Country Teams Look to Make History at American Championships on Saturday
10.29.15 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
PHILADELPHIA - After months of training and much success in early season meets, Temple's men's and women's cross country teams are ready to put themselves to the test on Saturday at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championships. East Carolina University will serve as the host for the Oct. 31 meet, with the men's 8K race set for 10 a.m. and the women's 6K race to follow at 10:50 a.m.
Both races will be streamed live and for free at: http://www.theamerican.org/XC. The races can also be seen through the embedded video player at the bottom of this story. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at @AmericanXCTrack.
The Owls have competed in five races heading into Saturday's conference championship. On the women's side, graduate student Blanca Fernandez is unbeaten after winning all four races in which she has competed. Fernandez has twice been named the American's Female Runner of the Week. Sophomore Katie Pinson has consistently been the Owls' number two runner, while a group of primarily freshmen have battled for the other top five spots. Coach James Snyder has no doubt about the talent of the women's team and their place in program history.
"The biggest thing for the women right now is to continue to rely on the momentum we've gained already and continue to move things forward," said Snyder. "As a group right now, we're going to line up the best team we've ever had in the history of the program. Where that ends up remains to be seen. As a group, for a lot of these girls it'll be their first taste of what collegiate championship racing is like. But I know from their past pedigree that when the lights are brighter, they've done their best. I'm more confident than I've ever been in our ability to get the job done at this meet."
As far as Fernandez, the goal is to remain unbeaten through Saturday and win her fourth American individual title after taking two in indoor track and a third in outdoor track.
"It's nice to talk about Blanca up front," said Snyder. "She's going to put herself in position to win another conference title. She'll be pushed by a couple girls, very talented athletes. She'll have a lot of company up front but she has a chance to compete for the title which is a rare thing."
On the men's side, seniors Alex Izewski and Matt Kacyon have led the way, finishing as the top two for Temple in the majority of races. Junior transfer Stephan Listabarth has also been in the mix. As a team, the Owls are currently ranked 12th in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
"All three of those guys could be in position to get all-conference," said Snyder. "Looking at how we've been training, more than ever our guys are understanding the level of competition and the sense of urgency we need to have when we toe the line on Saturday. They're excited for that opportunity. It was a bit of 'deer in the headlights' when we first ran in the American Championships two years ago, but the expectation has changed now and there's been a real shift in our focus. They know the stakes are high and they're ready to seize the opportunity."
While Izewski, Kacyon and Listabarth will likely continue to be the top three for the Owls, Snyder says a positive team result really falls to the rest of the group.
"A lot will fall on those fourth through eighth spots to put us in good scoring position to finish as well as we can as a team," he said. "We have the talent, but talent means nothing if it doesn't show up on race day. We've put in a lot of work and have been training since June, and it all culminates on Saturday so hopefully we can reap the rewards of that hard work."
Tulsa ranks as the #12 team in the country on the men's side, but Snyder said the four to five teams after that could be interchangeable and Temple is in that group. "It's going to be a dogfight, no doubt," he said, "but we're in position to make a splash."
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Both races will be streamed live and for free at: http://www.theamerican.org/XC. The races can also be seen through the embedded video player at the bottom of this story. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at @AmericanXCTrack.
The Owls have competed in five races heading into Saturday's conference championship. On the women's side, graduate student Blanca Fernandez is unbeaten after winning all four races in which she has competed. Fernandez has twice been named the American's Female Runner of the Week. Sophomore Katie Pinson has consistently been the Owls' number two runner, while a group of primarily freshmen have battled for the other top five spots. Coach James Snyder has no doubt about the talent of the women's team and their place in program history.
"The biggest thing for the women right now is to continue to rely on the momentum we've gained already and continue to move things forward," said Snyder. "As a group right now, we're going to line up the best team we've ever had in the history of the program. Where that ends up remains to be seen. As a group, for a lot of these girls it'll be their first taste of what collegiate championship racing is like. But I know from their past pedigree that when the lights are brighter, they've done their best. I'm more confident than I've ever been in our ability to get the job done at this meet."
As far as Fernandez, the goal is to remain unbeaten through Saturday and win her fourth American individual title after taking two in indoor track and a third in outdoor track.
"It's nice to talk about Blanca up front," said Snyder. "She's going to put herself in position to win another conference title. She'll be pushed by a couple girls, very talented athletes. She'll have a lot of company up front but she has a chance to compete for the title which is a rare thing."
On the men's side, seniors Alex Izewski and Matt Kacyon have led the way, finishing as the top two for Temple in the majority of races. Junior transfer Stephan Listabarth has also been in the mix. As a team, the Owls are currently ranked 12th in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
"All three of those guys could be in position to get all-conference," said Snyder. "Looking at how we've been training, more than ever our guys are understanding the level of competition and the sense of urgency we need to have when we toe the line on Saturday. They're excited for that opportunity. It was a bit of 'deer in the headlights' when we first ran in the American Championships two years ago, but the expectation has changed now and there's been a real shift in our focus. They know the stakes are high and they're ready to seize the opportunity."
While Izewski, Kacyon and Listabarth will likely continue to be the top three for the Owls, Snyder says a positive team result really falls to the rest of the group.
"A lot will fall on those fourth through eighth spots to put us in good scoring position to finish as well as we can as a team," he said. "We have the talent, but talent means nothing if it doesn't show up on race day. We've put in a lot of work and have been training since June, and it all culminates on Saturday so hopefully we can reap the rewards of that hard work."
Tulsa ranks as the #12 team in the country on the men's side, but Snyder said the four to five teams after that could be interchangeable and Temple is in that group. "It's going to be a dogfight, no doubt," he said, "but we're in position to make a splash."
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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