The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Cross Country Championships
Men's Cross Country motivated for NCAA Championships
11.21.2014 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns look to out-perform No. 30 ranking
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Course Maps | Entries: Men | Women
AUSTIN, Texas – For the sixth straight year the Texas men's cross country team is set to compete at the NCAA Championships and the Longhorns are hoping for a similar performance from last year.
The Longhorns enter the 2014 cross country championship meet ranked No. 30 in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. With only 31 teams qualifying for the championship meet, senior Craig Lutz said he and his teammates are motivated to out-do that ranking and show the nation what the Longhorns can do on the course Saturday.
"It's kind of a chip on our shoulder, seeing what the nation thinks we can do and what we think we can do," Lutz said.
The men's championship race is set for a 12 p.m. Central start following the women's race an hour earlier.
Last year, Texas entered the championship meet ranked No. 23 and finished in 14th. Coach Brad Herbster said he would like to see his Longhorns impress again in 2014.
"The entire team was disappointed when the polls came out and we were 30th. It's definitely getting the guys fired up," Herbster said. "If we can race like we did last week (at the regional), that's going to be big. We will really separate ourselves and have a shot to get in that top 12."
Action from the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course can be followed a number of ways for fans wanting to keep up with the exciting NCAA Championship competition.
The NCAA will have a live webcast available for free online at ncaa.com. A link will be provided on texassports.com as well. Live stats will be provided by branchsportstech.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter by following @UTexasTrack. For updates on the entire race and not just the Longhorns fans can follow @USTFCCCA on Twitter along with @FloTrack and @NCAA.
More Texas Quotes
Coach Brad Herbster
On the team and individual goals: I think Craig Lutz and Mark Pinales both have really good goals. We're trying to get under 350 points, which would be good. That would give us a shot to be in that top 12, top 10. I think Craig is capable of at least top five and then maybe working his way up. I think he's got a shot to win if the win is there. First and foremost, lock down the top 10 and then move up the line. For Mark, the last time we were at this course a month ago, he was really patient and he worked his way up and got into the 25 spot.
On the weather: Weather is the weather. Everybody has to race in it. Last year it was really remarkably cold and windy and muddy. I think at least this year it's supposed to be dry, and if it's cold; it's cold. These guys adapt pretty well to the elements. It was cold in Arkansas last week, and they adapted to that.
On the difficulty to qualify for the NCAA meet: Getting into the cross country meet, you got to be one of those top 31 teams. Everyone says, "Oh, it's 31 teams." But it's also the most contested sport in the NCAA. Everybody has a cross country team. It's really difficult. As a team to make it out of the regions across the board, it's tough. Some regions are tougher than others, but at the end of the day you've got to be in that top two if you want to assure yourself. That's what our guys were able to do last week. We're excited to be there and get back for the sixth straight time and see what we can do.
Senior, Craig Lutz
On this being his senior year in cross country: Throughout the years I've left a lot on the table that I still need to take care of. My sophomore year I had a chance to be an All-American and could have become the only four-time cross country All-American in Texas history, and I didn't accomplish that. So, what I can do this weekend is at least get my third in cross and try to establish my name as one of the best distance runners at Texas with Ryan Dohner. My goal is top 10, and I have not been able to get that. That's not an easy thing to do and so that's where my focus is right now.
Senior Mark Pinales
On the team mindset: I think that the team mindset is we have a little bit of a high from regionals. It's the first time we had everybody healthy, everybody ran together, we competed well, and we're really using that momentum to push us into this coming weekend.
On his goals as a senior: My goals as of now are to be an All-American, first and foremost, and to get up as far into the lead as I can.
On the weather: It was very cold last year. But it's nationals and everybody has to race in it and it's just something we all have to deal with.
On the team game plan: We work a lot better when we work as a team. It showed at regionals. We know that it's going to be a lot tougher and people aren't going to die in significantly greater field and great competition. Basically, we have to do what we've always done, which is pack it up as a team and run together, race hard and show some Texas Fight.
Players Mentioned
