By Josh Lipka

The University of Louisville cross country team looks to break new ground in 2010 by adding to the programs’ growing resume of successful seasons. Both men’s and women’s programs are raising the bar from past seasons.

Entering his second season as head coach of the Cardinal cross country squad, head coach Brice Allen has a confident perspective on how to be successful.

“The emphasis on this year is going to have a real-blue collar work ethic with both squads,” said Allen. “We are going to be humble, hungry and take some risks along the way.”

In 2008, Allen was promoted to head coach of the Cardinal men’s and women’s cross country teams by track and field head coach Ron Mann.

Success came almost immediately for Allen with the Cardinals. In 2009, U of L won team titles at consecutive meets and captured four individual titles. Cory Thorne was the first athlete in program history to win a cross country conference individual title at the Big East Championships. The same year, the Cardinal women earned their highest finish ever at the Big East Championships, ending in 7th place. They also finished in 6th place at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.

Prior to his promotion to head coach, Allen’s career evolved under the wing of Mann. Allen served two seasons as an assistant coach to Mann with the Northern Arizona University cross country and track and field programs. Allen then served five seasons as an assistant coach with the U of L track and field programs, handling the Cards’ distance coaching responsibilities, overseeing team travel, and serving as team recruiting coordinator.

“I have been working with Coach Mann since 2001 at NAU,” said Allen. “I have worked for him and with him now nine years at two different universities. It’s a great working relationship. Coach Mann has 32 years of experience. This being my third year of head coaching, I really appreciate his mentorship and will continue to work with him closely.”

For 5th year senior Michael Eaton, age is an ally.

“Our major strength this year is our age,” said Eaton. “We have two freshmen who have older brothers on the team. We already know the newcomers, so there is no get-to-know-each-other scenario.”

Michael’s younger brother, Ryan Eaton, will be one of the newcomers for the 2010 season.

“I have more to say to him,” said Michael. “We ran in high school together. I have already talked to him about proper diet and how he should be eating at school, since Mom and Dad can’t cook him dinner every night.”

With age, comes experience, which shows wisdom.

“With the younger class, I’m much more direct and tell them what to do,” said Michael. “With the upper class, I lead by example and let them do what they want, because they’ve been around just as long as me. They know what works for them.”

The women’s side looks to hit the national scene for its first time this season. For senior Emily Borsare, her only option is to take the leadership role.

“A lot of our seniors graduated last year,” said Borsare. “The leadership role fell right into my lap. It was forced on me, which was a good thing. I was able to really step into it and lead by example.”

The Cardinal cross country team will travel to Annapolis, Md. on Sept. 18 for the Navy Invite.

“I’m really excited about the new team,” said Borsare. “The guys have gone to nationals every year since I have been here. Our goal is to qualify for nationals for the program’s first time, which would be a huge step for the program.”

The preseason coaches’ poll currently ranks the men’s side 6th in its region.

“Preseason polls don’t matter,” said Michael. “The only poll that matters is the one Nov. 31, the day after nationals. Coaches’ polls usually rank us pretty low. We just take it, smile and laugh about it, then go back to work. It’s all right. Let’s prove them wrong.”