Women's Cross Country eyes balance

Team sports -- one usually associates football, basketball or soccer with the phrase. Cross country, on the other hand, is a sport of the individual athlete.

But Penn women's cross-country coach Cricket Batz-Shaklee would argue to the contrary. She sees cross country as the "quintessential team sport," because in order for the team to do well, all five scoring runners must have a good performance every race.

As Batz-Shaklee puts it, "If one person falters, you're in trouble."

This year's women's cross-country team hopes to find a successful balance between the individual performance of its athletes and the overall placement of the team.

The Quakers are well on their way to finding that balance. After a disappointing ninth-place finish at the Heptagonal Championships last season, Penn is already off to a good start this season with a fifth-place finish in a 20-team field at the Fordham Invitational on Sept. 8.

Senior captain Sam Desposito will lead the way this year, as the Quakers hope to finish in the top seven at Heps.

Desposito sees a good team dynamic as the key to success for this year's team, because sophomores and juniors make up the bulk of the squad. Many of these women had never participated in cross country before college and are coming into this season with only one year of competitive running experience.

But while many of the Quakers are running novices, they bring expertise from other sports, most notably soccer. A former soccer player herself, Desposito believes the Red and Blue benefit from this prior experience.

"Coming from other team sports, you bring a competitive team mentality, which is so important in cross-country," Desposito said.

Another important returnee is sophomore Abbi Gleeson. The 2000 team MVP is optimistic about the coming season.

"We trained hard over the summer," Gleeson said, "and we have had a strong showing early."

Impaired by numerous injuries last season, the Red and Blue will focus on a holistic training approach, according to Gleeson. Staying healthy, eating right, and getting along as a team will be strongly emphasized.

In practice the girls push each other hard, but keep things in perspective.

"Cross country is really hard," Desposito said. "We try to make it more fun by hanging out together and having a good time."

As Heps -- which will be held on Oct. 26 -- approaches, the Quakers will have the chance to measure themselves against the competition at numerous meets, including their lone home race of the season, which will be held at the Belmont Plateau on Sept. 29.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.