Just two races in the season, the Lyndon State Men’s Cross Country team is already slated to do exactly what they’ve done three of the last five years, and win the Northern Atlantic Conference. In the preseason rankings, they were projected to take the NAC by nine of the ten coaches.
They’ve already ran better overall times than teams such as University of Southern Maine, Colby-Sawyer, University of New England, and Castleton. In their two races, finishing second and first respectively, they have had their last qualifying runner finish no less than 20th place. In their last race, they had their top four runners finish first, second, third, and fifth.
Head Coach Christopher Ummer was content with how this season has begun.
“They’re off to the start we expected, with the amount of talent we have.”
They have a race this Saturday at Johnson State, but all focuses are on the Vermont State Championships, next Saturday at 11:00 AM, where three powerhouses are going to tough it out. Middlebury College (#10), Lyndon State, and Saint Michaels’ College are all looking to take the title of Vermont’s fastest.
“It’s probably going to be Middlebury first, Lyndon second and Saint Michaels’ third,” said Coach Ummer. “I can almost guarantee that’s what the scores are going to be.”
However, he left the door open for a Lyndon victory over Middlebury, something that hasn’t been accomplished in over a decade.
“I think if [Middlebury] bring less than their best, we have a shot,” said Coach Ummer. “We beat Middlebury in 2001, for the men’s state championship.”
When asked about how this team compared to the three teams in the past that had won the NAC late last decade, Coach Ummer said, “This is clearly a stronger team, and it’s stronger because of the talent we have on the team and the work this team has put in over the last year.”