Despite all the success the Syracuse cross country team registered in 2009, rising to its highest national ranking in program history, the team wasn’t satisfied. The Orange came into 2010 motivated to improve on that historic success, rather than to bask in it.

First place is anticipated much more now than ever. And after one meet, the team was right on par with the expectations.

Following two warm-up meets in September, the Orange had its first big test of the season at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Saturday in Madison, Wis. The SU women took first place in the meet, which included six of the top 30 programs in the nation.

Head coach Chris Fox was proud of the team’s performance in an elite race.

‘It was our first big effort, our first time really competing against good schools, and the girls did a fantastic job to win — to beat the University of Florida was a big deal for us and to beat all those Big Ten schools kind of puts us on the map now,’ Fox said. ‘We’ve always been pretty good and been close, and now they’re there. They’re a national power now, or on the verge of being a national power.’

It was a big first step for the team in its quest to make noise nationally. Fox said the girls want to finish in the Top 10 at the NCAA Championships and that goal is driving them to work hard and think big this year.

The team is already setting new standards this season.

The victory at Wisconsin propelled the Orange from No. 11 to No. 7 in the national coaches’ poll released Tuesday. The No. 7 ranking is the highest in SU cross country history, topping the No. 10 ranking the 2009 women’s team held at one point.

‘We’re kind of up there with teams, now, that we used to look up to, so it’s a big deal to the kids. I know it’s a big deal to the coaching staff,’ Fox said. ‘Now we want to see if we can hang on to that spot all the way through nationals.’

Fox said senior Katie Hursey and junior Lauren Penney will be instrumental in holding that lofty position and competing in a tough Big East conference that includes top-ranked Villanova and fifth-ranked Georgetown.

Hursey and Penney led the way for the Orange Saturday. Hursey proved she can run with the best in the country with her performance. She was SU’s top runner, finishing third in a field of 202 runners.

Hursey said it was exciting to run in a challenging meet to see how good the team is and what it’s capable of. She said the first-place finish was nice, but the team has its eye on the big picture.

‘Our goal was to win it, but there’s bigger meets out there to win,’ Hursey said. ‘We’re going to concentrate more on Big East and regionals and nationals, but it’s just a good start.’

Penney finished in the top 20, along with sophomore Sarah Pagano and senior Catherine DeSarle. Penney said she wants the team to finish the season stronger this year, after a disappointing finish at the NCAA Championships last year.

She said the weekend result is evidence that SU is ready to be a presence on the national scene.

Penney believes the strong bond of the team is the driving force behind its early season success. And with the victory in Wisconsin, against six ranked teams, the Orange appears ready to climb even higher in 2010.

Said Penney: ‘The fact that we all worked together really well in practices, all of our workouts we definitely work off of each other, and in the race we all finished really close times to each other, so we know how to use each other to make ourselves go faster and help each other out.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on October 6, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu