Gamecocks travel to region championships
On Friday, the Gamecocks will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
After the SEC Championship run, in which multiple runners recorded personal best times, the team seems to have found a sense of confidence.
“We just learned that we’re more than capable,” senior Chelsea France said. “When we came in, we weren’t ranked, and we weren’t getting a lot of respect. But now we put our name out there.”
Sophomore Meredith Mill echoed France’s opinion.
“I think since we did so well at SECs, it gave everyone a confidence boost,” Mill said. “People know more what to expect and what our team is actually capable of.”
Mill noted that running against SEC teams prepares them to face quality competition at the national level.
“The people you’re competing against in the SEC are like prime competition, so regionals is about on the same level,” she said.
The Gamecocks are now looking for that confidence to translate into a solid race this weekend. South Carolina is currently ranked in the top 10 of 45 teams in the region. Teams like Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky currently hold spots in the top five. Coach Stan Rosenthal said he feels that if his team has another impressive showing, then the Gamecocks could finish as high as sixth.
As the Gamecocks prepare to take on some of the best teams in the country, Rosenthal said the team was simply working on staying healthy and staying positive.
“We’re really resting up,” Rosenthal said.
The team is overall very healthy at this point. Rosenthal said Christine Kent, who injured her knee and wrist just before the start of the SEC race, was ready to go after a series of strong workouts.
As the team prepares for the NCAA event, the runners stressed the importance of teamwork.
“Running seems like an individual sport,” Mill said. “But the way your team’s portrayed and the scoring is all based on teamwork and how everyone does together.”
“A lot of [success] has to do with support from the teammates,” freshman Kayla Lampe said.
Both Penny Boswell and Lampe have had strong seasons thus far. Lampe emerged as the team’s No. 1 runner at the beginning of the season and finished 13th overall in the SEC championship race.
“We have pretty high rankings right now,” Lampe said. “I think we can exceed that if everybody has a really good day and races to the best of their ability.”
Lampe noted that the key to strong races is working and being diligent in even the small, difficult tasks.
“You got to know that even if it’s a tough day, you’re putting in the work, and it’s going to pay off in the long run,” she said. “You may not want to get up early every day ... It’s all counting towards getting better and being a better runner.”