By Steve Holt, Sports Writer
As an orange sun set Wednesday over the last official practice of the season, head cross country coach Derek Hood sat back in his seat and sighed.
Maybe for the first time all season, Hood was in a position of complete surrender, depending completely on the training he had orchestrated for his men and women up to that point in the season, praying it was enough.
For the men’s team, Hood is hoping the training was good enough to yield at least a second place finish at Saturday’s NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Pomona, Calif., if not the team’s first team championship.
For the women’s team, Hood hopes his training regimen this season produces three all-America runners and the team’s best finish in school history.
Ranked No. 4 nationally in the men’s coaches poll and 20th in the women’s poll, ACU is taking both cross country teams to nationals for the first time since 1995, and Hood said he has approached the workouts leading up to Saturday’s race with a calm, low-key attitude.
“At the high school level, I would have every little detail outlined and hold their hands through it,” Hood said. “Here at the college level, I’m really stepping back and letting them try to diffuse the pressure instead of building pressure. There’s going to be enough pressure when we get there.”
Perhaps the closest thing Hood has to a guarantee about Saturday’s meet is the performance of sophomore Nicodemus Naimadu, who is a heavy favorite to defend his individual national title on the 10-kilometer course.
“I really feel good,” Naimadu said. “If all factors remain constant until we get to the starting line, I think I will do better than I did last year.”
Hood, who a year ago was coaching at Keller Central High School, said he has been taking his successful first season at ACU in stride.
“If you had told me when I was hired that the season would progress like it has, I would have thought I’d be a nervous wreck when nationals rolls around,” Hood said. “But it’s funny, this past week, everything’s been good. I’ve been relaxed, the team’s been pretty relaxed – everything’s been going as planned.”
Hood might have a couple reasons to be nervous, however, regarding his men’s team. Senior Lucky Hadebe might not run Saturday because of an enflamed Achilles tendon, and senior Martin O’Kello is walking tenderly on an ankle he sprained last week.
Hood said Hadebe, who injured his Achilles during the Lone Star Conference Championships, will scout out the course Friday and should be able to compete for the Wildcats on Saturday. O’Kello’s ankle, Hood said, should not be a hindrance to him competing Saturday.
If Hadebe is not able to compete or does not finish well Saturday, Hood said he expects freshman Alberic Nkurunziza to step up and run in his place.
“That’s a pretty good little insurance policy,” Hood said. “Lucky is now our sixth or seventh man – we just hope he’ll pull something out of a hat for us.”
Hood said the women’s team, competing on a national stage for the first time since 1995, is ready for the challenges it will face Saturday.
“They’re about as prepared as I think we could be,” Hood said. “We had two blazing workouts last week. They were short in quantity, but the quality was just great. I think they’re peaking right when we need them to.”
The women’s team will feature three of the nation’s best near the front of the pack in the six-kilometer race. Senior Trina Cox, senior Adeh Mwamba and sophomore Olha Kryv’yak finished 1-2-3 at the South Central Region Championships on Nov. 5, and Hood said his goal for the trio is to finish in the top-10 at the national meet.
“That’s a pretty tall order, considering it’s the national meet,” Hood said of his goal, “but after watching the workouts last week and them competing at South Central, I think it’s a possibility.”
Like in the South Central Region Championships, the deciding factor in how the team places will be the performances of the Wildcats’ fourth and fifth runners. Freshman Mary Mwangi and senior Abbie Waters stepped up at the region meet and helped clinch ACU’s trip to the national meet, but they will need to run even better Saturday.
“If we can finish in the top-10 – considering last time they went they finished 17th – that would be very respectable,” Hood said. “That would, I guess, justify the training and all the effort they put in this season.”
Naimadu has his sights set high for the men’s team, which will face top-ranked and perennial powerhouses Adams State (Colo.) and Western State (Colo.), along with No. 3 Chico State.
“We are fairly trained enough,” Naimadu said, “and I hope that what we have been doing since the beginning of the semester, Saturday is the day we are going to pay for it. We hope that we can get, if not first, second.”
Sitting in the locker room after speaking at Wednesday’s team meeting, Hood sat back and sighed again. He said he would be happy with his first season, no matter how Saturday’s results turn out.
“Either way, it’s a blast,” Hood said. “I’m having a great time, especially here at Abilene Christian. I’m really enjoying working with the wide variety of athletes we have here at ACU.”
The NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships will begin with the women’s race at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s race at noon, at Prado Park in Chino, Calif.
