Alabama Cross Country Week That Was: Week 3
9/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
Sept. 8, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's cross country team and head coach Randy Hasenbank got their 2009 season underway last week at the Belmont-VU Opener in Nashville, Tenn.
From last year to this year, the team has shown much improvement in not only in individual times, but in team scores as well.
"This was the fourth year I've taken our girls up to Belmont and the first year, we had just one girl under 15:07," Hasenbank said. "This year, we had nine under 15:07 and four under 15:00 which is outstanding. We've also improved in the team standings every year as well."
Haley Moody started to look more like she did when she was All-SEC as a freshman two years ago as she finished seventh at Belmont. In 2008, Moody battled injuries during the outdoor season of her freshman year and cross country as a sophomore.
"Haley is running more like herself after spending much of last year struggling with injuries," Hasenbank said. "Katlyn Will also did a great job as a freshman; she ran very smart and came close to negative splitting. The number one stat pleasing me the most is that not only did we have several career bests, but we had a gap of 20 second from 1-5 and we've had nothing close to that in past years. Now that doesn't guarantee us anything but it shows that the athletes have really committed themselves to getting better."
In practice, the squad is still putting in a fair amount of volume but is starting to add a couple more specific workouts each week. The ladies were able to get their long run in at Belmont last Saturday morning before heading back to Tuscaloosa.
"As we progress, we're still working on our aerobic fitness and our miles are still somewhat high, but we're getting more specific," Hasenbank said. "Most of our girls are doing two-a-days including the weight room a few days a week."
Alabama will have one week off before they host the 21st Annual Crimson Classic at Harry Pritchett Running Park on Sept. 18.
