Oracle Online

The Pipers came into the year with an experienced and determined team. Their success thus far has yielded some individual acknowledgment. Bristow, one of the team's two captains, earned the MIAC's Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week for the second time in three weeks. Coach Schmaedeke sees the success as a result of the teams hard work, but says leadership has played a role.

“There are definitely leaders on the team. Tony Klappa and Travis [Bristow] are our captains but I think that the whole senior class has done a pretty good job of assuming a leadership role. That would include Chris Lutz and Chris Yotter. I think there is good leadership there,” Schmaedeke said. “They understand what it takes to be successful and are pretty determined to be successful.”

Hamline has also received some team recognition in the form of a top-15 national ranking, according to the USTFCCCA poll. The Pipers, ranked 12th, moved up one spot from their position last week. While this can certainly be seen as encouraging in itself, the team is resolute in keeping their priorities straight.

“We don’t converse about national rankings. There is probably some importance to them, but it is nothing we can control. We focus on the things we can control, and that is simply our training and how we race. Those are really the only two things we can control, the rest is out of our realm of control,” Schmaedeke said. “It doesn’t do us any good to worry about those things. I try to continually remind folks, ‘lets stay focused on the process: the training and how we race.' If we do those things, the results will be there for us.”

The women's team hopes to continue to build on what is currently a solid blend of youth guided by upperclass leadership.

The Pipers took 7th at the Dan Huston Invitational, on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Leading the pack for the Pipers weres Schrupp, who took 14th place and finished with a time of 15:16, and Francis, who finished 20th with a time of 15:25. Sophomore Freya Fitzer finished the race in 41st place with a time of 15:52. First-years Anna Banasik and Ashley Cooper finished the race 47th and 54th, respectively.

“We’re fortunate we have two good seniors in Lacy Schrupp and Melissa Francis. They both have done a good job in providing that senior leadership. For both teams that is a huge part of your success; it depends on your upperclassmen and leadership,” said head coach Paul Schmaedeke. “If that part isn’t very good, you probably won’t be very good. If you’ve got good leadership, you’re going to have a team that gets a lot out of itself.”

Both teams hope to build on their current success, but Mother Nature may play a role in how the races play out, or at the very least, how they feel. Temperatures last week plummeted below freezing, causing any fall-sport participant to reach for the undershirts and hats. Nonetheless, with guidance from a no-nonsense head coach, cold weather does not seem to be much of a worry.

“We try to take this approach. We don’t control the weather. The weather is going to be what it is, all we can do is prepare for the weather. I am a believer that you look out there and say ‘oh yeah, that’s a nice day, lets run’ and that is all you can do,” said Schmaedeke. “I tell the players, let the weather be someone else’s problem. We are not gonna talk about it, we can’t change it, yes we have to understand what it is and prepare for it, but I don’t want anyone complaining about the weather.”