ISU cross-country heads to Black and Gold Invite with its goals in perspective
Photo: Jonathan Krueger/Iowa State Daily
Senior Ejiro Okoro leads the pack in the women’s 4×1,600 on April 25, 2013 in the Drake Relays at Drake Stadium. She led the pack all the way through the end of the race, helping her relay get first with a time of 19:16.69.
September 13, 2013
When the ISU women’s cross-country team heads to Iowa City on Friday, it will be competing for more than just a meet title: It will be competing for in-state bragging rights.
The Cyclones will compete in the Iowa Black and Gold Invite at the Ashton Cross-Country Course in Iowa City. They will be running against Alabama, Baylor and Iowa.
“We try not to put any more focus on one meet than we do every other,” said ISU coach Andrea Grove-McDonough. “But I would say that we’re a little more focused and fired up than usual.”
This meet marks the first of the season for senior Ejiro Okoro, who was an All-Big 12 and All-American 800-meter runner last spring. Okoro, originally from England, came to Iowa State in 2011 and is a fifth-year senior.
“I really just want to get out there and see where my progress is at, because I definitely feel [more fit] than last year,” Okoro said. “It’ll be good to see where the rest of the team is at too, and then we can see what we need to work on.”
Captain Maggie Gannon will be competing for the first time this season as well. Gannon, a two time All-Academic Big 12 team member, is entering her junior season with hopes to lead her team to another regional championship.
For the Black and Gold Invite, however, she just wants to stay focused on improving and preparing for their bigger meets.
“This meet is going to be a great opportunity for us to improve before we head to the Griak [Invitational] and the Wisconsin [Adidas Invitational],” Gannon said. “It’s great to have this opportunity without all the pressure of a big meet.”
The race will only be 4 kilometers instead of the usual 6, and the Cyclones will not race their top runners because this is one of the smaller meets on their schedule.
And while for some, the Cy-Hawk rivalry may be important, Grove-McDonough is trying to keep the team focused on what really matters.
“We don’t want to get too focused on beating Iowa, because in the grand scheme of things, nobody is going to remember if we beat them or not,” Grove-McDonough said. “But it would be nice to remind the state who the top team really is.”
