MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
during the early portion of the race. Those things are helped by having teammates around you. "We'll definitely try to find each other and run together as much as we can. Everyone on our team has worked evenly as hard and we're evenly talented. Why not run with each other?'' That question was tossed at UW head coach Mick Byrne. "I've said all along that the comfort zone that
they get into — when they're running together — takes a lot of that pressure off,'' Byrne responded.
"Instead of one guy thinking the race through
for himself, it's five guys helping each other through the thinking process. That's a great com- fort and we don't expect that to change Monday. "Ultimately the bottom line is that they just want to win. It's all about the team.'' What about the pressure? "I haven't thought an awful lot about it, par- ticularly with his group of guys,'' Byrne said. "They're keeping me sane this week. As long as I'm sane they're not going to pick up on any pres- sure from me.'' Said Darling, "He kind of
laughs at it (pressure). He just says, 'Do what you're supposed to do.'''
Byrne volunteered an exam-
ple on how these runners handle their business. Returning from last weekend's regional meet, the team had a two-hour layover at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. "And every one of those guys was studying or doing some- thing related to school work,'' Byrne said. "The only thing they talked about on Sunday after the race was the schoolwork they had to do.
"From a coaching perspec-
tive, it's like, 'Wow, let them be college kids. Let them take care of their business and we'll talk
« The goal for returning All-Americans Mohammed Ahmed (left) and Maverick Darling will be to hold a much larger trophy with their teammates on the awards stand Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.
44 » VARSITY NOVEMBER 17, 2011
