With two meets and two victories under their belts, the Ohio State men's cross country team looks to obtain a three-peat this Friday in the 52nd annual All-Ohio Cross Country Invitational held in Delaware, Ohio.
The Buckeyes won the meet last year, totaling 64 points, with Ohio University (75 points), Malone College (105), the University of Cincinnati (112) and Kent State (139) rounding out the top five teams.
"The All-Ohio is a big meet," junior John Ealy said. "Everything we have been doing the past few weeks (has) been working up for this meet."
To put even more emphasis on the race, coach Robert Gary elected to forgo competing in the Griak Invitational in Minnesota this past weekend.
"We decided to take (the Griak Invitational) off to have three weeks to focus on our training, to get ready for the All-Ohio and the Big Ten season," said senior Glenn Collins.
OSU will not only be battling every college cross country team in Ohio on Friday, but also one of the most demanding courses in the state.
"It is a very hilly course," said Collins, who was second for the Bucks and fifth overall at the race last year with a time of 26:10.7. "We have been going to the High Banks each week to get ready for Friday."
The Buckeyes also look to head into the meet with everyone healthy for the All-Ohio, something they could not claim a year ago.
"This is the first time we will go into the race with everyone on varsity able to run," said junior Alex Bailey, who was first for OSU and second overall last year at the All-Ohio, running a 25:56.6.
Although OSU will not face any Big Ten opponents in Friday's race, the team feels the All-Ohio will be a good test for the upcoming Big Ten season. The conference boasts the No. 1 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, as well as the No. 16 Buckeyes and No. 18 Michigan Wolverines.
"In the Big Ten you are always looking over your shoulder," Bailey said. "At a meet, you could have one runner have a bad race, and all of a sudden you go from second place all the way to seventh. This will be a good race to prepare us for the rest of the season."
The men's varsity race will begin at 2:00 p.m., with the open race at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
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