Saturday, September 21
Terre Haute, IN
6:45 AM
University of Washington
vs
John McNichols Invitational (Women)
After Tackling Mountains, Women Set For Season Opener
September 19, 2019 | Cross Country
John McNichols Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019
LaVern Gibson Championships Course, Terre Haute, Ind.
Women's 5,000m - 6:45 a.m. (PT) - Live Results | Live On Flotrack ($)
SEATTLE – Maurica Powell, heading into her second season as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Washington, decided to take one of the core values of Athletic Director Jen Cohen to heart when planning the fall for her group.
"I wanted to try and show a little 'growth mindset' and try something new as a coach," says Powell.
The idea was to take the Huskies, coming off a ninth-place NCAA finish last season, into rarefied air. So up they went, into the Rocky Mountains for three weeks of altitude training in Colorado Springs. Washington also made visits to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for strength training in-between runs up trails, along mountainsides, and detouring into every available body of water.
"Our group is quite adventurous," Powell says. "They want to climb rocks and jump in blue pools everywhere we go, and do crazy canyon runs at nine-thousand feet and it's been a fine line letting them be adventurous but not risky."
Along with any aerobic or fitness benefits to the training camp, the Huskies used the time to foster the team unity that will be needed for any kind of successful season.
"By the end of twenty days here, everyone is reduced to her authentic self. There is no faking anything," says Powell. "We're all seeing each other at our most tired and vulnerable and learning to function as a group and learn how we operate in those circumstances.
"It's challenging to live with 17 people for 20 days, and they have done a really remarkable job becoming a team and learning how to function in this kind of environment. The better they can get at working together when things get hard, the better they will be racing in championships."
The team cooked a family-style meal every night of their stay in Colorado, and sometimes there were literally too many cooks in the kitchen. Powell says the team had to learn to assign lead cooks and sous-chefs on a rotating basis, and let the lead cooks make all the decisions. "Just learning how to grocery shop for that large of a group has been awesome to see. I'm really proud of them. In terms of that type of cooperation this might be the best team I've ever had."
Now the Huskies will come down from the mountains this weekend for their first competition, the John McNichols Invitational, taking place on the same LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute that will host the NCAA Championships in November. The race will go off early this Saturday morning, 9:45 a.m. locally and 6:45 a.m. Pacific time.
"Coming off twenty days at altitude is uncharted territory for us," says Powell. "With the exception of Katie Rainsberger (a native of Colorado) it's the first time training at altitude for a long period for us. They are fit, healthy, and excited but tired. We will fly in on Friday afternoon and get up and race, so we're looking at the race as part of preseason training camp."
Because of the time spent at altitude, Powell is not particularly concerned with results for this weekend and more focused on seeing two things.
"The whole point of coming up here was to hone in on attitude and effort. We ran new trails, new loops, at elevation, where paces and times aren't evaluative for them. So instead of equating times to outcomes, and workouts to what kind of fitness you're in, we just focused on working hard."
Eleven Huskies will see action on Saturday, led by All-Americans Katie Rainsberger and Lilli Burdon along with 2018 NCAA Championship returners Allie Schadler, Shona McCulloch, and Kelly Makin. Senior Kaitlyn Neal, juniors Hannah Waskom and Kiera Marshall, sophomores Camila David-Smith and Madison Heisterman, and freshman Melany Smart will round out the squad.
If the Huskies reach new heights this season, they can look back on September as the first taste.
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019
LaVern Gibson Championships Course, Terre Haute, Ind.
Women's 5,000m - 6:45 a.m. (PT) - Live Results | Live On Flotrack ($)
SEATTLE – Maurica Powell, heading into her second season as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Washington, decided to take one of the core values of Athletic Director Jen Cohen to heart when planning the fall for her group.
"I wanted to try and show a little 'growth mindset' and try something new as a coach," says Powell.
The idea was to take the Huskies, coming off a ninth-place NCAA finish last season, into rarefied air. So up they went, into the Rocky Mountains for three weeks of altitude training in Colorado Springs. Washington also made visits to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for strength training in-between runs up trails, along mountainsides, and detouring into every available body of water.
"Our group is quite adventurous," Powell says. "They want to climb rocks and jump in blue pools everywhere we go, and do crazy canyon runs at nine-thousand feet and it's been a fine line letting them be adventurous but not risky."
Along with any aerobic or fitness benefits to the training camp, the Huskies used the time to foster the team unity that will be needed for any kind of successful season.
"By the end of twenty days here, everyone is reduced to her authentic self. There is no faking anything," says Powell. "We're all seeing each other at our most tired and vulnerable and learning to function as a group and learn how we operate in those circumstances.
"It's challenging to live with 17 people for 20 days, and they have done a really remarkable job becoming a team and learning how to function in this kind of environment. The better they can get at working together when things get hard, the better they will be racing in championships."
The team cooked a family-style meal every night of their stay in Colorado, and sometimes there were literally too many cooks in the kitchen. Powell says the team had to learn to assign lead cooks and sous-chefs on a rotating basis, and let the lead cooks make all the decisions. "Just learning how to grocery shop for that large of a group has been awesome to see. I'm really proud of them. In terms of that type of cooperation this might be the best team I've ever had."
Now the Huskies will come down from the mountains this weekend for their first competition, the John McNichols Invitational, taking place on the same LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute that will host the NCAA Championships in November. The race will go off early this Saturday morning, 9:45 a.m. locally and 6:45 a.m. Pacific time.
"Coming off twenty days at altitude is uncharted territory for us," says Powell. "With the exception of Katie Rainsberger (a native of Colorado) it's the first time training at altitude for a long period for us. They are fit, healthy, and excited but tired. We will fly in on Friday afternoon and get up and race, so we're looking at the race as part of preseason training camp."
Because of the time spent at altitude, Powell is not particularly concerned with results for this weekend and more focused on seeing two things.
"The whole point of coming up here was to hone in on attitude and effort. We ran new trails, new loops, at elevation, where paces and times aren't evaluative for them. So instead of equating times to outcomes, and workouts to what kind of fitness you're in, we just focused on working hard."
Eleven Huskies will see action on Saturday, led by All-Americans Katie Rainsberger and Lilli Burdon along with 2018 NCAA Championship returners Allie Schadler, Shona McCulloch, and Kelly Makin. Senior Kaitlyn Neal, juniors Hannah Waskom and Kiera Marshall, sophomores Camila David-Smith and Madison Heisterman, and freshman Melany Smart will round out the squad.
If the Huskies reach new heights this season, they can look back on September as the first taste.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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