By Tim Robertson
Going from running a 5-kilometer race in high school to running an 8-kilometer race is in Division I athletics can be a difficult task for any freshman. However, this was not the case for cross country standout Rudy Martinez. Teamed with senior Alex Maina, Martinez set the standard for the men's team.
Martinez arrived in September not expected to make an immediate impact, but he did. According to coach James Sewell, "Men usually peak later in their college careers." However, Martinez proved this stereotype to be false.
Just a month into the season, Martinez set a new record with a time of 26:26 at the Fairfield Invitational and led the Pride to a second place.
At the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic, Martinez finished 16th out of 267 runners, meanwhile erasing his week old record with a new one with a time of 25:40. Martinez finished second in Collegiate Track Conference Championships, and 40th in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships. He was not 100 percent at the CAA meet because he was nursing a hamstring injury.
Individuals are the product of their teams, and one without the other is nothing. That is the truth with this cross country team. Maina, a 2003 transfer Central Methodist College (Missouri), and freshman standout Martinez have pushed each other all season long, both in practice and during meets. Maina and Martinez finished close to each other in 24 of 28 meets and they look do to the same at this weekend's NCAA Regional Championships.
She led the Pride in five out of six races she ran, won two Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Runner of the Week awards, captured her first individual crown in Delaware, and more importantly, Shannon Semski broke the women's individual time record with a quick 18:32 at the Towson Invitational.
She is arguably the most talented freshman in the conference and, paired with junior Jen Campbell, a former record holder, led the Pride to an accomplished yet injury-prone season. In fact, Semski suffered a stress fracture before the CAA Championships, and will be absent for the NCAA Regional Championships.
At her last meet, the CTC Championships, she finished fifth, four seconds behind Campbell. The Pride won its second team trophy of the season, with its first title coming at Delaware back in September.
The Pride's last meet was not its best, finishing seventh at the CAA championships. Semski's season ending injury was a factor in this abnormal finish for the women, Sewell said, "If you cut off the head, you lose the body." That is what happened when the women ran without the freshman leader.
Sewell is proud of what his teams have accomplished thus far, and "happy with what we've done." Sewell and the rest of the team are looking forward to the spring cross country season, and look forward to opening practice when the spring semester kicks off in January.
Freshman Shannon Semski has been electric in her first year with the Pride. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)