ASU cross country enters one of the most important meets of the year: the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Friday in Madison, Wisconsin with a chip on its shoulder and something extra to prove against its elite nonconference competition.
“This is certainly one of the meets on our schedule we circle throughout the year,” head coach Louie Quintana said. “We have very high expectations going in.”
Quintana said his team have been motivated for Friday's meet, hosted by the No. 11 Badgers.
“We take the underdog role very seriously,” Quintana said. “This is a good spot for us to be in.”
Quintana said the women have had a good two weeks worth of preparation, but also said he thinks the women’s squad is underestimated in the national polls.
The men's team is unranked, but received nine votes, while the women's team is unranked in the latest coaches poll.
“I definitely think we’re a better team than a lot of people are giving us credit for, but again, we have this opportunity, both teams do in fact, to kind of go out there and get it done,” Quintana said. “That’s the beauty of our sport is that there’s no game plan. You’re just running."
Quintana said the plan for Friday's meet has changed from the Oct. 2 Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Indiana.
“Our plan has always been to run smart and patient at the same time if that’s possible,” Quintana said. “There’s always that fine line to do it.”
Quintana said at Notre Dame the team panicked during the meet.
“We got out of our race comfort," Quintana said. "We got out of our race strategy and plan, and then we didn’t really have a good day.”
Redshirt junior CJ Albertson said feelings of confusion always arise after a difficult race.
“After that, you get past it and go back to work and we just keep doing what we’ve been doing because we know that our fitness level is high,” Albertson said. “We’re still ready to race fast.”
Last year at Wisconsin, Albertson finished with a time of 24:56. Two years prior in Madison, Albertson recorded a time of 25:29.
“We just had an off day and you can’t change everything just from one off day,” Albertson said. “You just have to trust in what you have.”
Freshman Samantha Ortega, this will be her first trip to the Madison meet.
“The key for me is just going to be the same as always,” Ortega said. “To get out there, race as fast as I can, as tough as I can and bring that score lower so we can just get some points towards our team to go to nationals at the end of the season.”
Senior Adriana Olivas has found success in Madison. In 2013, she finished 33rd with a time of 20:26. Last year, Olivas crossed the finish line in 86th place with a time of 21:06.
The Wisconsin Adidas Invitational will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. The women’s 6-kilometer race will begin at 9 a.m. and the men’s 8-kilometer race will start at 9:45 a.m.
Reach the reporter at michael.baron@asu.edu or follow @Michael_Baron96 on Twitter.
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