The NCC women’s cross-country team will look to ride on early momentum this season. Their relatively young squad looks to gain valuable experience heading into the fall with a new mindset focused on growth.
The Cardinals have competed in two meets to kick off the 2023 campaign. They placed sixth at the Vic Godfrey Invitational in Kenosha and first at the NCCXC Invitational. This was held at their home course at St. James Farm in Warrenville.
Establishing culture
Entering his 24th season at the helm of NCC women’s cross-country, it will be important for Head Coach Mahesh Narayanan, ’97, to use the culture that has brought past success to his new squad. His upperclassmen will be a valuable asset for mentoring his group of greenhorns. If the returning Cardinals are able to retain the culture from last season, building a tight-knit squad should come easy.
Paige Runkle, ’25, is one of the five upperclassmen on the Cardinal team. Runkle understands her role on the inexperienced team and how there will be a learning curve.
“It’s really important to establish a culture, especially since two-thirds of our team are freshmen. With only five returners it can be challenging sometimes, but we’ve tried to emphasize that while we work hard, we also want to have fun and enjoy the process. Having a chance to connect with all the freshmen has taken some time, but I know we’re only getting stronger as a team,” said Runkle.
Runkle admitted that it’s not an overnight process to create a strong team bond. The leadership team in the Cardinal squad will look to make the freshmen comfortable with the day-to-day grind of collegiate cross-country. They will do so with the overall goal of individual and team growth in mind.
Freshman takeover
The two meets the team has participated in so far will act as an essential introduction to collegiate cross-country for the freshman-laden squad. Freshmen account for ten of the fifteen runners, while there are only two seniors on the squad.
Alayna Ruach, ’27, led the way for the freshmen in the opening meet. She posted a time of 16:33.09 to finish 38th overall on the 4,000-kilometer course in Kenosha. Segilola Smith-Pariola, ’27, was the next-highest finisher amongst the Cardinal freshman. She clocked in a time of 17:02.41 to claim 48th overall.
They used the experience gained in Kenosha to dominate on home turf a week later. Lily Anderson, ’27, was the third overall finisher, running a time of 24:28.5 on the 6,000-kilometer course. Smith-Pariola and Ruach continued their early success, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Seeing such early adjustments to a new level of competition is encouraging for the team, and Runkle sees the potential in this squad.
“I think we’ve done a great job at practice establishing who we are and where we want to go, so as long as we keep putting in the work and focusing on our overall growth, I know we can do something special in October and November,” said Runkle.
The newcomers will prove to be a deciding factor in whether the Cardinals can make a deep run in the CCIW ranks or even return to the national ranks.
Familiar faces
While the freshmen have been putting up numbers early in their collegiate careers, familiar names have provided consistent production in the early going.
Julia Benes, ’25, led the charge for the Cardinals in the opening meet, finishing 20th overall with a time of 15:24.67. Nicole Brandy, ’24, and Lauren Belvel, ’24, also started off the season strong, finishing 47th and 48th respectively.
Combining their established runners with some intriguing newcomers will make the Cardinals an interesting team to watch this season. Growth from early season success will be crucial for this team down the stretch. The team returns to action Sept. 16 at the Gil Dodds Invitational at Wheaton College.
