Today, the Iowa women’s cross-country team will travel to Peoria, Illinois, for the Bradley Pink Classic.
The women’s 6,000-meter race start time is slated for 5:05 p.m. at the Newman Golf Course on the Bradley campus.
The Hawks would like to continue their recent success. Last time out, on Oct. 2, sophomores Madison Waymire and Kelly Breen and freshman Andrea Shine recorded personal bests in the women’s 5,000-meter race at the Notre Dame Invitational.
“At Notre Dame, we ran very well for us, but there is always room for improvement, and we would just like to improve as a whole to move up closer to the front of the race,” Waymire said.
A strategy the Hawks have been working on that has produced some of the recent success is the tactic of pack running.
For preparation for the Notre Dame Invitational, the Hawkeyes emphasized pack running in practice. And in preparation for today’s race, pack running is being stressed once again.
“As a team we have been doing well running in a pack, so I think our team goal is to bring that pack closer to lead runner Madison [Waymire],” Shine said.
That pack will have to be organized and ready to go, because today’s race is the first time for the Iowa women to race 6,000 meters this season.
The Hawks know the race serves as an excellent warmup for the championship events coming up.
“This competition will help us for Big Tens and regional events, but it will also be our first time racing the 6K, so we will learn how to better pace and strategize for the 6K race coming up next month,” Shine said.
Experienced runner and junior Carolyn Newhouse agrees with Shine. She knows how important the race is for the team.
“[Today’s] race is good practice because it’s important to learn the feel of every distance in racing, so this will give us an idea for which parts are most challenging and how we should pace,” she said.
With the strategy for this season set for the race, head coach Layne Anderson has the same theme he’s had all season long.
Going into the today’s meet, he wants to see progress and improvement from the prior meet.
“It will be a great meet for us at this stage in our development,” he said. “We want to compete and to run well individually with progress from Notre Dame.”
Anderson hopes the Hawks can continue their recent success. He wants the team to be at peak performance for next month’s Big Ten Championships.
“Expectations should be to continue positive momentum, pursue personal-record performances, and give yourself reason to believe heading into the Big Ten meet,” Anderson said.