COLUMBIA, Mo. - The weekend's unseasonably hot weather slowed times to a halt Friday at the Gans Creek Classic, hosted by University of Missouri.
Times across the board were slower than expected on the fast Gans Creek course for the Men's Open Division 8K race Friday morning, as temperatures climbed to 86 degrees during the 10:30 a.m. race.
"We knew coming into this race it was going to be warmer than we'd been used to the past few weeks," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "Looking at the hour-by-hour forecast, I was expecting it to be 77 degrees at race time, which normally isn't terrible, but at 10:30 in the morning that's pretty warm. But it ended up being a lot warmer than that, and mixed with no breeze and no shade on the course, our guys were just drained. We certainly could have handled the heat better than we did, but I also can't fault the guys for feeling like they did in those conditions. This race was not indicative of our current fitness level. There are going to be days like this where you just don't have it, and unfortunately, this was one of those days."
The Spartans failed to post a team score, as freshman Daemon Rodriguez did not finish the race. Rodriguez was tripped between 2K and 3K and injured his hamstring during his fall. Chase Oates once again led the Spartans, finishing 111th in the field of 218 finishers.
"It was one of those days where anything that could go wrong did go wrong," Vicker said. "Daemon was running really well and looked like he was handling the heat just fine, so for him to get tripped and injured was disappointing to see. Hopefully he will be able to return to our lineup in time for the Region 11 Championships, but if not, the main goal is to have him back healthy for nationals."
Southwestern returns to action Friday, Oct. 13, at the Indian Hills Invite and then hosts the Region 11 Championships on Friday, Oct. 27.
"You have to have a short memory in cross country, and we've already wiped this race from our minds and started focus on Indian Hills," Vicker said. "We know we'll be without Daemon in the lineup that day, but it's another great course and the extended forecast for that day looks much more like cross country weather. So we'll be ready to bounce back and have a better performance."
