Every season opener for any sport comes with a certain degree of pressure. But this Friday, the pressure may be even greater than normal for Syracuse’s distance runners.

The sprinters on the team opened up their season this past weekend, setting six personal records in their events. Now the distance runners are anxious to get out on the track and do the same.

The athletes on the team will be split, competing in the Florida Relays, the Stanford Invitational and the Sam Howell Invitational. The team’s top distance runners will be heading to the Stanford Invitational, which will be held both Friday and Saturday, and look to build on an impressive indoor season.

Junior Martin Hehir, who set two indoor school records this year in the 3000m and the mile, is striving to repeat the success he enjoyed indoors on the outdoor track this spring.

Hehir ran a 4:00.04 mile at the Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Feb. 8 and a 7:59.40 3000m at the Penn State Invitational on Feb. 1.

“I know I am capable of approaching and hopefully surpassing the school records in the 5000m and the 10000m, so that would be awesome to do,” Hehir said. “However, that’s not the ultimate goal. Everyday I go out on the track and just try to run faster than I did the day before and if I set records while I’m doing so, so be it.”

Another distance runner who had a fantastic winter and hopes to keep his momentum moving into the outdoor season is MJ Erb. Erb, a sophomore, set personal records in the 3000m (8:12.35), 5000m (14:26.99) and the mile (4:04.66) in the past indoor season.

Head distance coach Chris Fox believes Erb is another runner who is primed to excel this outdoor season for the Orange.

“Some of our outdoor school records are really good,” Fox said. “I do expect Martin to run really fast and MJ is just getting healthy, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two of them run very well this season. We expect a whole lot out of the entire group of guys.”

Fox is also optimistic about the distance runners’ chances to continue setting personal bests. The team stresses that each and every single runner strives to improve with each practice and race.

The heavy snow and cold winter has limited the amount the team has been able to get outside to practice, but Fox doesn’t expect it to hurt his athletes too much. The coach thinks his guys have put in the work during the indoor season and are ready to continue to reap the benefits of their efforts.

That starts with the meet this weekend.

“We’re taking 10 guys out to Stanford with us and I expect each of them to run their best,” Fox said. “I expect a handful of PR’s out of our guys, picking up right where they left off during the indoor season.”

Hehir, Erb, and the rest of their teammates are excited for the opportunity to compete outdoors and prove themselves against the nation’s best.

The Stanford Invitational is a prestigious meet in track and field circles across the country, a meet in which some of the fastest and most talented runners across the country participate. The level of competition will be high, as will the stakes.

“The kids are anxious and excited to go and prove themselves against some of the best,” said Adam Smith, assistant distance coach. “We preach the importance of the meet, the importance to run well, but we also know that we have two months to keep improving those times and running faster.”

Published on April 3, 2014 at 12:09 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu