Letter from America: Brian Flanagan: So today was the last race of the season. We traveled to the NCAA D1 South central regionals in College Station Texas.
The race went exceptionally well, not just for me but for the whole team. We but all of the heartbreak and disappointment from the conference defeat aside and lined the start line with 171 other athletes from some of the top schools in the nation including Arkansas, Texas (Austin) and Texas A&M. There where about 30 teams in total.
This was my first ever race at 10,000m (the longest I ever done on road, track or XC) and I finished 49th in 31:38.5 as the fourth of five scorers for the Cowboys. I was also the 4th Freshman in the race. The average mile split was 5:05 per mile (the equivalent of 3:10 per in km 10 times in a row – on an XC course that’s not even flat)
The team had an equally exciting performance finishing 4th in the region only conceding to Texas (Austin), Arkansas and Texas A&M. We absolutely annihilated Lamar university who defeated us two weeks ago at conference. This is the best McNeese State has performed at NCAA regionals since the days of Rehany’s David Rooney back in 2012. Coach Gilroy also mentioned that I ran the same time as Rooney did when he was a Freshman (no pressure now ha!)
So that’s a wrap for my cross country season here. We wind down now toward thanksgiving break next week followed shortly by my end of semester exams. I’ll catch up with you all soon then. Until then all the best, and good luck at Nationals in 2 weeks to you all.
Nil Desperandum.