Cross country limps through National Open

Coming off an impressive performance two weeks ago, Pitt men’s cross country followed with a… Coming off an impressive performance two weeks ago, Pitt men’s cross country followed with a disappointing 14th place finish at the National Open at Penn State on Friday.

The team was paced yet again by freshman Joshua Christopher, who garnered a 52nd place finish with a time of 27:22. Following Christopher was senior Curtis Larimer and sophomore Lane King, who took 66th and 73rd places, respectively.

The women’s group faired slightly better, coming in 15th out of 25 teams. Senior Amy Ruffolo, who turned out a time of 22:39, was good enough for 70th place overall.

La Salle won the race, with host Penn State coming in third behind Oklahoma.

Coach Alonzo Webb conceded that he had hoped for more out of the meet.

“Overall it wasn’t quite what we expected,” Webb said. “We expected a stronger performance from the whole team.”

Webb, who has stressed running as a group all season, said it might have been that very philosophy that ultimately held the team back.

“For the most part they were a little too conservative,” Webb said. “They could have gone harder because they’re fit enough. We didn’t let them go too much because we wanted to keep the pack together.”

Despite this week’s setback, Webb is still optimistic about the team’s overall potential and, with the Big East championships around the corner, he plans on turning his runners loose.

Webb said that he is confident the pack mentality is well ingrained into his runners.

“That mentality is established, so when we let one runner go, they’ll all just go,” Webb said. “The person who feels they can go out harder and lead will be followed by others.”

It’s no surprise that Webb believes that one reliable runner will be Christopher, who has led the squad in every race this year.

“Josh continues to do what he’s capable of doing,” Webb said.

Senior Eric Burnett said he felt the team was tired and could have used last week to begin preparation for the Big East.

With the race at State College behind them, the teams return home for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.

Webb held out all runners who raced the day before at Penn State, and plugged in lesser-used runners.

Among that group was senior Eric Fleming, a top runner who has been out with an Achilles injury for most of the season.

Kyle Kaminski, Mike Meade and Jack Morrow joined Fleming in the competition. The four competed as individuals, with Kaminski finishing first with a time of 26:58.

The women’s squad competed in the team event, placing 12th.

Freshman Heather Calisto paced the team with a 33rd-place finish, crossing the finish line with a time of 20:49.

Fleming was forced to drop from the race after the third mile.

“I probably could have finished, but it’s a long year and I didn’t risk anything further,” Fleming said.

Fleming still hopes to run at the Big East Championships in two weeks, but won’t force it.

“I’m taking this week to think about it,” Fleming said. “I don’t want to take a roster spot of someone who can make a bigger impact if I’m hurt.”

Webb decided to pull out of next weekend’s meet at Kent State.

In the down time, the team will begin its preparation for the Big East championships.