Andrew Podgurski

Past Entries

Entry 1

September 14, 2004

Last week was definitely another step in the right direction for our team. Tuesday's workout was in less-than-ideal conditions with all the rain that has accumulated from the barrage of hurricanes that have hit the Southeast.

Lullwater Park was a sloppy mess, but the guys focused and we were able to get in a great workout. This team might not have the front runners that we had last year, but we have more guys who are willing to compete.

I think that Coach Graham's introduction of the number shirts has had a great impact. Coach bought 14 shirts that are numbered from 1 to 14 and after every race we have to trade them based on the order we finished for the team that day.

Seniority is all about how fast you ran and how well you competed. So all the grunt work like carrying the water jugs is reserved for those that don't have a shirt. We even line up for lunch after the race according to our shirts. Coach's philosophy is that if you don't like where you are, then run faster. It might sound a little harsh, but it's been a fun way to increase the intensity on the team.

Last week we raced at Panthersville for the Georgia State Invite. It's a great experience to race here and get the younger guys familiar with the course that regionals will be run on for the next two years.

For the seniors this was our 10th time running the course and it showed with High and Farcy able to post some very respectable times for this early in the season. Kile Krol also stepped up to finish third on the team. It looks like he is finally starting to represent the QCA.

The team still has a lot of work to do, but the guys are showing that they have the instinct to compete. I have heard a lot of talk about how we lost at Sewanee for the first time in five years, and that we also won at Georgia State for the first time in five years.

So what do these results tell us about the team? Well, pretty much that we have had an up and down month of September. The good thing we have two months until the start of the championship portion of our season.

Andrew Podgurski is a senior from Chesterfield, Mo. He would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.