Women's Cross Country Kicks Off 2015 in Maine

WEST POINT, N.Y. – With more than half of the team being plebes, second-year director of cross country Mike Smith expects to learn a lot about the young Army West Point women's cross country team as they travel to Orono, Maine, to open the season at the University of Maine Duals on Saturday.

The meet will begin with the women racing at 11 a.m. followed by the men at 11:45.

"We're taking our entire team up to Maine because we want to have an opportunity to see what everyone looks like in a competitive environment," said Smith. "It's very difficult to simulate competition intensity in practice. For us to go to Maine gives us an opportunity to put our people in a competitive environment and really assess their competitive will and fire. We want to see how the team looks when they compete to see what kind of competitors we have."

Smith enters his first full season at the helm of the cross country program after beginning his tenure halfway through the season in 2014.

"Getting to be a part of the preseason really helps you gauge what's possible and train appropriately," said Smith. "When I came in midway last year, it was difficult to disrupt the rhythm that they already had so I didn't. Now, I get to establish that rhythm so I'm more in tune with each team than I was a year ago. I have a much better idea of what buttons to push to help them get prepared for their competitions."

The Black Knights are returning two seniors in Madison Hill and captain Lindsay Gabow, but the rest of the team is made up of seven underclassmen. There is no doubt that Hill and Gabow will produce for Army this season, but the youth of the rest of the squad leaves a question mark for what the team results will yield.

"Our men's and women's teams are very similar; we're led by seniors that are seasoned veterans, and we're relying on young people that are unproven," said Smith. "I'm looking forward to our leadership leading us in this event. I expect our captain, Lindsay Gabow, to be our leader. She has been so far in practice, and I would expect that to continue. She has trained at a high level, so my expectation is that she will race at a high level. She was our leader for most of last year too, so I would look to her to lead us. The closer everyone else is to her, the better we are. "

The Black Knights have shown what they can do in practice, but it still remains to be seen whether or not that will translate into success on the course. This first meet will give Smith and his staff a good indication of what to expect for the upcoming season and how to best train his athletes.

"It's very difficult to simulate competition intensity in practice," said Smith. "For us, going to Maine gives us an opportunity to put our team in a competitive environment and really assess their competitive will and fire. We want to see how they look when they compete to see what kind of competitors we have."

For up-to-date information about the women's cross country team follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on twitter.

Women's Cross Country Kicks Off 2015 in Maine

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Players Mentioned

Lindsay Gabow

Madison Hill

Army West Point Athletics