Squad is battling injuries, illness
The USC cross country team has reached the pinnacle of its five-month season.
The Gamecocks will compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday. USC will face a very talented field, including nationally-ranked squads such as No. 20 N.C. State, No. 21 Virginia and No. 25 North Carolina.
USC staggers into the regional without Liz Locke or Meredith Mill, but coach Stan Rosenthal is optimistic about his team's chances in Louisville, as Scola Jepngetich (hip flexor) will be healthy enough to compete. In a field of 250 runners, Rosenthal said closing the gap between runners will be crucial for a good result, because as many as 30 competitors will be crossing the finish line at a time.
"We need everyone to run [well] in order to make a respectable top 15 finish," Rosenthal said. "With the injuries, it looks like Jessie Hartman and Megan Rother will have to step up to close the gap between them and our top runners. In a one-minute gap, that could be 60 team points at stake, so closing them will be crucial to our success."
The Gamecocks did not have a good showing at the SEC Championships last week, finishing 11th out of 12 teams. USC scored 295 points against a stout SEC field, including No. 14 Arkansas and the eventual league champion No. 3 Vanderbilt. The disappointing meet concluded a regular season ravaged with injuries. Rosenthal said it has been the worst campaign he's seen in 30 years due to injuries and illness.
"Well the result was very disappointing because of my high expectations to how I thought we could finish," Rosenthal said. "The injuries have really taken a toll on us and we haven't been as successful overcoming those injuries as other teams have. In cross country, your top five runners are your scorers, and without them there's not much you can do."
Locke, last year's team rookie of the year, hasn't been able to run for three weeks due to an Achilles injury. Jepngetich has been dealing with a revolving door of injuries this season: from a stress reaction in her hip to a sore hamstring and now a hip flexor. To top it all off, Mill, a highly-touted freshman, has been dealing with mononucleosis.
"Any time you lose three scorers like that, we are just not deep and good enough to overcome that," Rosenthal said. "Sometimes that's just the way it is and hopefully we can deal with it the best we can."
Despite all the negatives, the Gamecocks were able to put together some good performances at SECs. Beatrice Biwott led the team for the fourth straight year at the championships with a 25th place finish and a personal record time of 21:31.56. Other Gamecocks that had strong showings were Penny Boswell with a time of 22:49.84 and Sara Hartley with a time of 22:54.64.
"Overall I was proud of the effort our team gave, even though the results were disappointing by a team stand point," Rosenthal said.
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