Alabama Cross Country Week That Was: Week 9
10/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 19, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Cross country coach Joe Walker led the No. 3 Alabama men's squad through the ninth week of practice including the Pre-National Invitational held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.
After defeating former No. 1 Oregon in Eugene two weeks ago, Alabama fell to the No. 7 Men of Oregon but took down No. 2 Northern Arizona by one point on the 2009 NCAA Championship course.
"Pre-Nationals was a solid effort for the most part," Walker recalled. "It was just not quite the outcome we expected. I give a lot of credit to Oregon for bouncing back from a tough weekend and hopefully we will respond the same way when we see them again in November."
The Crimson Tide will have a week off in preparation for the SEC Championships on Oct. 31.
"Last week's training went fairly well," Walker said. "We had to adjust a workout because of weather and then had a Thursday travel day to Terre Haute so the schedule was slightly affected. We are physically in a fairly good spot now and will continue to improve there. Right now, we just need to focus on being mentally prepared for the SEC and South Region Championships."
Alabama, the defending SEC Champions, will next be seen at the SEC Championships on Oct. 31 in Oxford, Miss. where they will look to repeat as conference champions.
