TEMPE — Sun Devil cross country returns to action this weekend with its season-opening trip to Riverside, California to compete in the UC Riverside Invite at the UCR Ag OpsCourse. The women's race kicks off at 8:45 a.m., and the men get going at 9:15 a.m.
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The Maroon and Gold are focusing on setting the groundwork and getting a good baseline start to the year. Entering his second season as head coach after being hired in October 2020, Patrick Henner is focused on effort, execution, and instilling a specific mindset in his athletes.
"The expectations are just excellence," Henner said. "We want to set ourselves up for a really good long-term progression in terms of our individual runners and also our team. We want to put ourselves on a pathway that is going to result in us being very competitive in the Pac-12 and the national level.
"My philosophy is if you're on a team you aren't allowed bad days," Henner added. "It has been cool over the course of these first three weeks we've been training how that kind of attitude has gelled. I think the last couple workouts, every single person out here - male and female - had a good or great workout. I've been really pleased with the buy-in to that mindset that you either have a good day or you have a great day. We're not allowed mediocre or bad days."
The Sun Devil men's squad features nine returners and six freshmen, and Dayton Carlson highlights this year's newcomers. During his senior year at Casteel high school, Carlson was named the Gatorade Runner of the Year in both cross country and track, earned three state titles, ranked first in Arizona in three events, and ranked top-40 nationally in the 800 and 1600m. He won't compete this first weekend, but eyes should definitely be kept on him as the year continues.
Veteran Vincent Mauri is heading into his third season with Arizona State. He set a personal-best in the 8K at the Pac-12 Championships last year and went to the NCAA West Prelims for the 1500m during the outdoor track season. Mauri has high hopes for his team heading into the 2021 campaign.
"With COVID, it's been a whirlwind, but not in a good or bad way," Mauri said. "I think Coach Henner is learning the team a lot better so there's more of a structure to our training plans, so he's able to write a full plan. He has gotten to know us so it's going to pay off this year."
Henner believes that Mauri can reach new heights this season.
"His biggest thing over the first half of the season is helping his teammates be better, helping them race better, helping them train better and him staying healthy," Henner said. "If Vinny can stay healthy three or four seasons in a row, he is going to be one of the best runners in the country."
On the women's side, the team is welcoming some new faces with seven newcomers in addition to five returners.
"The women are doing a really good job," Henner said." Hayden Sparks and Kylie Miller are leading the pack with the freshman and are staying up there. But across the board all of the newcomers have to learn how to train at this level and then focus on effort and execution. Everything revolves around effort and execution. If we have everyone executing the race plan and giving great effort then we're going to establish that flight path to being a great team."
The Sun Devils Tucson to compete in the Dave Murray Invite on Oct. 2, which is followed by the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Florida which are scheduled for Oct. 15. The Pac-12 Cross Country Championships are slated for Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The season will close out with the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 12 and the NCAA Championships on Nov. 20.
Live results
The Maroon and Gold are focusing on setting the groundwork and getting a good baseline start to the year. Entering his second season as head coach after being hired in October 2020, Patrick Henner is focused on effort, execution, and instilling a specific mindset in his athletes.
"The expectations are just excellence," Henner said. "We want to set ourselves up for a really good long-term progression in terms of our individual runners and also our team. We want to put ourselves on a pathway that is going to result in us being very competitive in the Pac-12 and the national level.
"My philosophy is if you're on a team you aren't allowed bad days," Henner added. "It has been cool over the course of these first three weeks we've been training how that kind of attitude has gelled. I think the last couple workouts, every single person out here - male and female - had a good or great workout. I've been really pleased with the buy-in to that mindset that you either have a good day or you have a great day. We're not allowed mediocre or bad days."
The Sun Devil men's squad features nine returners and six freshmen, and Dayton Carlson highlights this year's newcomers. During his senior year at Casteel high school, Carlson was named the Gatorade Runner of the Year in both cross country and track, earned three state titles, ranked first in Arizona in three events, and ranked top-40 nationally in the 800 and 1600m. He won't compete this first weekend, but eyes should definitely be kept on him as the year continues.
Veteran Vincent Mauri is heading into his third season with Arizona State. He set a personal-best in the 8K at the Pac-12 Championships last year and went to the NCAA West Prelims for the 1500m during the outdoor track season. Mauri has high hopes for his team heading into the 2021 campaign.
"With COVID, it's been a whirlwind, but not in a good or bad way," Mauri said. "I think Coach Henner is learning the team a lot better so there's more of a structure to our training plans, so he's able to write a full plan. He has gotten to know us so it's going to pay off this year."
Henner believes that Mauri can reach new heights this season.
"His biggest thing over the first half of the season is helping his teammates be better, helping them race better, helping them train better and him staying healthy," Henner said. "If Vinny can stay healthy three or four seasons in a row, he is going to be one of the best runners in the country."
On the women's side, the team is welcoming some new faces with seven newcomers in addition to five returners.
"The women are doing a really good job," Henner said." Hayden Sparks and Kylie Miller are leading the pack with the freshman and are staying up there. But across the board all of the newcomers have to learn how to train at this level and then focus on effort and execution. Everything revolves around effort and execution. If we have everyone executing the race plan and giving great effort then we're going to establish that flight path to being a great team."
The Sun Devils Tucson to compete in the Dave Murray Invite on Oct. 2, which is followed by the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Florida which are scheduled for Oct. 15. The Pac-12 Cross Country Championships are slated for Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The season will close out with the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 12 and the NCAA Championships on Nov. 20.