Keene State College cross country is coming up on its championship races this November behind their leader, Ryan Widzgowski. Widzgowski, who is described as “the locomotive for the team” by head coach Peter Thomas, gave his team a confidence booster on October 19 by finishing fifth at the Connecticut College Championship.
“I faltered a little bit in the [New England Championships on Oct. 12], I just wasn’t feeling it that race. I just took the next day to clear my head,” Widzgowski said.
“When other kids on the team are passing Ryan, they’re like ‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, he’s supposed to be up there, we’re supposed to be feeding off of him,’” Thomas said.
“He turned an ankle and fell once, and almost a second time,” Thomas said. “Sometimes when that happens kids can rally from it, but others it destroys their day. They think too much about what they did wrong instead of rallying.”
Widzgowski, who has earned Athlete of the Week at KSC four times this fall, bounced back after the dismal race at the New England Championships, where he didn’t place in scoring.
File Photo / Chris Palermo: Widzgowski leads the pack for the men, who barely beat Coast Guard to win the Connecticut College Invitational.
His training led him to a solid meet at Connecticut College a week later, however, posting a 25:28 time on the 8K course. “I went into the next week like any other week in training and kept my head straight, shrugged off any disappointment and showed my teammates it wasn’t going to affect me,” Widzgowski said.
Expecting to do well in this race, the game plan for cross country was for Widzgowski to finish in the high 24 minutes and other teammates in the mid 25 minutes, according to Thomas.
“Training leading up to the race was a very effective confidence builder. Everything was placed perfectly for our competition against Conn. College,” Widzgowski said.
“We expected to be in a good meet where we could finish first to third, so they put it together and won,” Thomas said. “They were more relaxed, it was something they knew they could handle and they were confident, which is everything.”
As for building on a solid race, Widzgowski says he’ll do nothing different while preparing for championships this November. “We have all the workouts scheduled, so we’re just going to follow them and work as a team, our confidence is up, we know what to do to be successful as a team,” Widzgowski said.
Coach Thomas is on the same page as Widzgowski, keeping practices relatively the same but increasing the pace to prepare them for November.
“Stepping up in practice, quickening their pace and training runs [is the schedule]. If all goes according to plan, they’ll do well, “Thomas said.
What could go wrong?
“Anything can happen, you lean on your horse a little bit and then he crumbles and everyone else starts falling apart, there’s a lot to it,” Assistant Sports Information Director John Napolitano said.
Widzgowski placed fourth in the Little East Conference championship last year and thirty-first overall in the New England Regional’s in 2012, proving he is a strong horse to lean on.
“I just want to be confident during the race and satisfied after,” Widzgowski said.
Stephen Aruilio can be contacted at saruilio@keene-equinox.com