Repeating is always the toughest part

Men’s cross country “works its butt off” in attempt to return to nationals for second straight year

May 20, 2008
By Jake Lloyd
Editor-in-Chief


Last season, the Albion College men’s cross country team qualified for the national championship meet for the first time in 22 years. The team made the trip to Hanover, Ind., placed 18th at the meet and enjoyed every minute of it.

This is something the Britons want to take part in every year. This is not something they want to make a once-every-22-years tradition.

While running in the scorching heat this summer, the runners motivated themselves by thinking about returning to the meet. Eight to 10 team members made a trip up north to Tawas City to run in the Great Lakes relay in July. They ran a total of 260 miles as a group. Team members ran in road races. They put in the extra work to make sure that on Nov. 20 they’re making the trip to Eau Claire, Wisc. for this year’s national championships.

According to Albion’s top runner Jay Puffpaff, Ithaca junior, who has won two races this year, “After we went to nationals last year, which was one of the best experiences most of us have ever had, after that we all knew [that we wanted to return to nationals].

“Everyone coming into this year had the same goal in mind of returning to nationals. Everyone put in a ton of miles this summer and worked really hard to get into good shape coming into the season.”

Fourth-year coach Hayden Smith said, “That’s one of the expectations at this point. You can’t expect to go, but you certainly can expect to fight for it.”

The team needs to finish in the top two at next weekend’s regional meet at Alma to be rewarded that trip. The team finished second at last weekend’s Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) meet behind powerhouse Calvin, but struggled, and Smith said a better performance will be needed at the regional meet.

“It definitely wasn’t our best meet,” Smith said. “We haven’t really hit our best meet. We haven’t had everybody do really well at the same time.”

If that does happen, it will be due, in part, to Albion’s first-year runners. Before the season Smith said that this was the best group of first-years he’s had in his four years, and he’s not backing down from his statement.

Although Puffpaff, Taurean Wilson, Albion senior, and Noah Lopez, Dearborn sophomore, have provided consistency for the Britons all year long—and have adequately replaced Albion’s three key graduated runners—the other two scoring spots haven’t been so set. Adam Dohm, Cassopolis senior, has shown sparks but has also struggled to recover from an injury.

The spots have most consistently been filled by first-years, in particular Clark Richter, Rockford first-year, whom Smith calls one of the best first-years in the MIAA.

“They [the first-years] kind of kept us in the same spot [in the league],” Smith said. “We’re counting on a lot more freshmen [than usual]. Hopefully, with our freshmen and sophomores, we’re close to being competitive with what Calvin has out there.”

Smith and Puffpaff agreed that what’s been key about the first-year contributors is that they’ve made a smooth transition to the program and accepted its goals.

“They’ve come in and seen how bad the upperclassmen have wanted it, and have kind of joined right in,” Puffpaff said.

According to Smith, “What stood out is that they fit right in. They fit right in with what was going on. We’ve pretty much kept the same nucleus going that we had.”

That nucleus is hungry for another appearance at the national championships. The Britons want to feast on that appearance five days before they enjoy the feast that they know will happen.

There is one more feast they know will be served. The Friday before the regional, the team is going to Puffpaff’s house near Alma for a home-cooked dinner.

The Britons are hoping that with a home-cooked meal in their tummies, three stellar veteran runners and an overachieving group of first-years, they can make this national meet trip an annual thing.