Last year, the ASU men's cross-country team came close to making it to nationals.
The team finished fifth in the NCAA West region and just missed out on an at-large bid.
This year, though, the team is motivated to reach the Promised Land and land a trip to the National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Led by coach Louie Quintana, entering his first year as men's head coach and 11th overall with the program, the Sun Devils have high expectations for this year, a year marked by a big change in operations.
The Sun Devils are transitioning from a one-coach system to a two-coach system, with longtime assistant Ryan Cole taking over the women's team while Quintana heads the men's team. This is a first for the program, but up to this point the change has been met with enthusiasm.
Top runner and All-American track star redshirt junior Darius Terry said he prefers the change.
“It’s kind of nice,” Terry said. “I feel like before things were more flustered and now things are more individualized.”
Terry not only likes the change but also his chances for a solid year. Terry ran in six races last year and found success. His top finishes last year included a seventh-place finish at the Dave Murray Invitational and 23rd-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships.
“I just want to be an All American in cross country,” Terry said.
Freshman Heyden Wooff is looking to make an impact. Highly recruited out of Camarillo High School in southern California, Wooff narrowed his choices down to ASU, UC Irvine, and Air Force Academy.
Wooff eventually chose ASU because “it felt right on my visit, and everyone was really focused on the running season,” he said.
The Sun Devils are striving to improve from last season, and Terry said he has seen a noticeable difference in the team’s performance from last season.
“We just did a workout yesterday and it was a minute faster than last year,” Terry said.
The Sun Devils feel that they have improved from last year, and the team camaraderie is there as well. The team is led by redshirt senior Daniel Lovell, or better known by the team as “D-Love”. Quintana feels he is a key part of the team.
“[Lovell] is really our team captain,” Quitana said. “He’s our go-to guy. When I need to run drills, everyone looks to ‘D-Love’ to run them through the group.”
Everything, from focus to team chemistry, points to a solid year for the Sun Devils men's cross country team. Quintana is optimistic for the year, but remains humble.
“Right now we are just doing the work that's going to get us a positive step towards the Nationals,” Quintana said.
Wooff, like the rest of the Sun Devils, is very optimistic about the team’s outlook for the season, as they will begin their journey at the George Kyte Invite in Flagstaff on Sept. 3.
“I think we can do really well this year,” said Wooff. “We have some really fast runners returning, and everyone is working hard. And we have a really good incoming freshman group so hopefully we can all get in the mix and help out.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
