Sports, Women's Cross Country, Women's Sports

Cross country on the road to Riverside

The Long Beach State cross country team looks to build off the first meet as it travels to Riverside for the UC Riverside Invitational.

The men’s team is coming off of a first place finish in the Mark Covert Classic at Cal State Fullerton two weeks ago, while the women’s side struggled in the same tournament, coming in sixth out of eight competing schools.

Injuries have been a major factor for the women’s team. Head coach Andy Sythe said he thinks the infusion of so many new players and their inability to stay healthy have really derailed the team’s progress.

“They have the talent,” Sythe said. “They need time to develop. It’s a transition. For freshmen, struggles are going to be common. We need to create some normalcy and routine. They haven’t had that.”

The women’s side is also experiencing a change in the coaching staff. Tom Walsh, who was coach of the USC women’s cross country team for 18 years, was hired as the new cross country and distance coach last week, Sythe said. He believes Walsh’s expertise and achievements will help with LBSU’s future success.

“He’s still getting acquainted with the team,” Sythe said. “It takes time, so after the hire we can begin to solidify our team. I’ve known Tom [for] a long time. He’s a respected coach nationally and internationally.”

The 49ers will travel to Riverside on Saturday for the UC Riverside Invitational. Despite a successful first meet, Sythe said that he thinks this will be a great measuring stick for his squad.

“We need to use the momentum from our last meet to further assess where we’re at in our conditioning and training and preparation,” Sythe said. “It’ll give us our first honest view of our course. It’s going to add some experience to our young women and men.”

In addition to hosting UC Riverside, the 49ers will be competing against fellow Big West Conference opponents Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara.

Sythe said a big focus in the men’s team training is getting more mileage. He mentioned that some of his runners run 80-100 miles per week, with the goal of being able to maximize their mileage to be ready to go for the championships in six weeks.

While the results have been better for the men’s side than the women’s so far, Sythe expressed confidence that his runners can be among the best in the country.

“This is a very talented group,” Sythe said. “Even though we’ve started successful, I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of our capabilities. It’s going to take longer for the women, but I believe they’re capable of improving our conference.”

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