Cross country commits to hard
practices Justin Hite/ Sports Editor
On a two week hiatus the men and women’s cross country
teams look ahead in hopes of a strong rebound race after
disappointing 12th and seventh place finishes,
respectively.
Both teams will be running in the Old North State
Invitational in Greensboro on Sept. 23 and hope to emulate
the success in the first race, when the teams finished first
and second.
“It’s definitely a team effort with this
group,” coach Jackie Sgambati said. “My first
through fifth guys are always different. It’s a huge
team effort.”
The women’s team is led by standout sophomore Anna Mae
Flynn, who continually finds herself in the top of the
Southern Conference every meet and is the key kog to the
women’s team’s success.
“Anna Mae is usually first but we have two girls who
are very close behind her and the pack behind them,”
Sgambati said. “We just have to put the pack further
up.”
Flynn was named the Southern Conference runner of the week
when she won the Gamecock Invitational and finished ahead of
130 runners at the team’s first race in Columbia. As a
sophomore, Flynn already owns six of the top ten times in
Elon’s history.
“Without Anna Mae we wouldn’t finish as well but
without the team we wouldn’t finish as well,”
Sgambati said.
Flynn’s time at the Gamecock Invitational of 18:30 set
the school record by ten seconds.
The team has employed a scheduling technique that provides
the team with a better chance to win.
On a continual basis, the team races on back-to-back
weekends before taking two weekends off.
There are many positives to this system.
“It’s good because you can’t expect them
to run their best race every week,” Sgambati said.
“We want them to peak at the end of October for the
Conference meet.”
But don’t think the runners get two weeks off. The
practices are much more difficult in the off-weeks than the
on-weeks to ensure the teams stay fresh. This season could
put the Phoenix at the top of the Southern Conference.
Contact Justin Hite at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
