By Catherine Laroche
The University of Louisville cross country team has just wrapped up a successful season, and the athletes are now preparing for the indoor track and field season.
“I am very pleased with the women’s and men’s teams at this point,” said Head Coach Ron Mann.
Out of five competitions in the regular season, the men’s team finished in the top three on three occasions and in the top 20 in the other two meets.
The regular season for the women’s team wasn’t as successful as the men’s, but it was still considered a huge improvement from the year before.
“The team chemistry was very good,” said senior Ashley Ruberg. “We started with a whole new team. We lost a lot of people, but we all came together. Everything worked out.”
The Cards competed against top-ranked teams including Wisconsin, Arizona, Notre Dame and Michigan, and placed fourth in their first-ever Big East Conference Championship. This was due in part to the efforts of sophomore Wesley Korir and freshman Cory Thorne, who each earned All-Big East honors.
Thorne paced the Cards with a 10th-place time of 24:49 on the 8-kilometer course at the event. Right behind him, Korir checked in at 11th with a time of 24:53.
As a whole, the Cardinals scored 112 points to finish fourth out of 14 schools.
“Cory Thorne was only five seconds away from earning [Big East] Freshman of the Year honors, and he ran a nice race,” Mann said. “I was very happy with the approach of our men’s team to win this race and I thought we performed well. I feel good about the overall direction of our program here at U of L.”
Ruberg led the U of L women with a 45th-place time of 22:56 on the 6-kilometer course. The Cards finished 14th overall with 427 points.
“I think our women’s team is making improvements and is continuing to move forward from where we were last year at this time,” Mann said.
The Cards’ success continued at the NCAA Southeast Regional. The men’s team closed out the 2005 season with a sixth-place finish. Korir, who earned All-Region honors, finished 16th in a field of 207 runners with a time of 30:39.6 across the 10-kilometer course.
“I was very pleased,” Mann said. “A year ago we finished 10th, so sixth place is bittersweet. We are making great progress.”
Ruberg was the only member of the U of L women’s team to compete at the NCAA Southeast Regional. She snagged an 89th-place finish in the 6-kilometer race in a field of 205 runners with a time of 22:40.3.
“All in all, I think we ended the season on a positive note,” Mann said. “Things are really moving in the right direction for this program.
“With the runners coming back, and the recruits we’re continuing to add for 2006 and beyond, I feel very good about the future of U of L cross country.”
Cross country is over until next year, but the track and field teams are preparing for their first competition Dec. 9 at the Fast Start Invitational. “We have increased the intensity of all practices and worked on all of the technical aspects,” Mann said.
The teams are filled with anticipation coming into the season. “I’m looking forward to racing better athletes,” Thorne said. “In high school, I didn’t race great athletes all the time, so I’m looking forward to higher competition.”
The teams also hope to make a big impression in the Big East.
“We want to show that we are a nationally competitive team,” Ruberg said. “The team has stepped up and everyone’s very talented. We just want to show that we are a prominent team in track and field.”
