Oct. 26, 2011

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Senior Ashley Cromartie talks about her team's efforts leading to this weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships in another installment of Maryland's running blog

The weeks leading up to ACC championships are often stressful. But this season, I feel as a team we have welcomed that stress and anxiety and have used it as fuel. We have had some great workouts and tune-ups leading up to this weekend's race, and I am confident the Terps are ready to make themselves known this Saturday.

Although we've had some minor setbacks along the way this season and lost some key scorers in our top seven due to injuries, I think we have bounced back and are ready to go out and race hard. I'm still confident that we will fall into seventh or eighth place as a team. If every person has the race I know they are capable of, I know we are sure to turn heads.

As a team, everyone is fired up and ready to go out there and leave it all on the course. We have talked a lot about being confident going into the race and I think Coach Dunham has done a great job of getting everyone in the right state of mind. We are just coming off of a great 2-mile time trial last Thursday, which I think was a huge confidence booster for the team as whole.

For me, I'm sad that I'm a senior and that this is will be my last cross country ACC championship. But, I'm happy I have a great group of seven girls that I will toeing the line with this Saturday at 11 am.

And in the words of Coach Dunham: "Lets go to WAR!"