2018 Cross Country Season Preview

The Nicholls State University cross country team has a change in its lineup for the the upcoming 2018 season.

Head coach Stefanie Slekis said there are fresh faces for the 2018 season.

“It is an exciting new year for the program,” Slekis said. “We brought in six newcomers for men’s cross country, five newcomers for women’s cross country and then seven newcomers, specially, for track and field. That is just the natural direction we need to go in terms of bringing in people that are prepared to put in a lot of work, to be competitive in the conference. The individuals understood what we wanted to build here.”

Junior runner Teril Cooper said he is thrilled about this new team.

“I think that this group of guys is the greatest group of guys that the men’s cross country team has seen in my three years of participating in the sport,” Cooper said. “Not only physically, but mentally. We’ve set goals for the season that exceed the goals of the guys from last year. We’ve increased our running volume and intensity at practice. On top of that we’ve been practicing off campus on different trails and getting exposure to different mediums and footing.”

Slekis said the team has implemented goal setting to strive for success.

“We have already done goal meetings, and the big ultimate goal for the men’s program is to finish at a 7th place at the conference meet. That would make a big statement. The women’s goal is similar, but we will see a little more specifically based on how we race these next couple of meets.”

The team’s first event will be the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

This meet will be the first home event for the program in over 24 years.