MARSHALL INDEPENDENT (© 2002 story reprinted with permission)
10-08-2002
PACK MENTALITY
By Alex Oey- Independent Sports Writer
MARSHALL � There are some animals that are pack oriented in what they do. The Marshall Tiger boys cross country team is no different. �It is going good this year,� said Akey Jumale, one of Marshall�s top runners. �I think we�ll be all right this season.� The Tigers are turning the more individualized sport of cross country into a real team sport. Marshall has found a real pack mentality that is helping them win meets.
�It is more depth than we�ve ever had,� said Marshall head coach Mike Jacobs. �Now all of a sudden we have at least five guys where the good people have been in the past. We basically have more depth than we�ve ever had.� With a strong varsity team lead by Yayha Iman and Akey Jumale, the pack that includes Salah Mohamed, Tom Allen, Jon Tauer, Abdi Awale and Bart Johnson is striving to catch them.
�(Iman and Jumale) are really helping us,� said Johnson. �We try to get closer and closer to them each time. We try to not let them get very far ahead.� Iman, who is relatively new to Marshall cross country, has been leading the Tigers much of the season. �I think Yahya is developing into one of the strongest runners we�ve ever had,� said Jacobs. �The level he is at right now is about as good as anyone has been for us.�
With Iman and Jumale placing near the top in many meets for Marshall, the rest of the team scores can spell the difference between first and fifth. �If you have a bunch of guys real close to each other your points are about the same,� said Tauer. �If you have a couple guys in front and one guy way in back it jacks up the score.�
�(Running in the pack) improves our score,� said Johnson. �Coming in so close together means that there are not many bodies in between us.� The Marshall pack has done a lot for the individual runners as well as the team. Instead of pushing themselves, they have a whole team doing it. �It does a lot of good (running in the pack),� said Mohamed. �Because I�m trying to win, too (like everyone else).� �Yayha, Akey and Salah spend a lot of time jabbering in a meet,� said Jacobs. �If they get to an opportune time where there is a turn and they meet the guys behind them they are yelling at them and supporting them. It really is a strong team sense.�
A team sense is what is happening to the Tigers. Even though many of the boys could reach the state level as individuals, it�s not something that is really talked about.
�I haven�t really heard one person talking about what they can do as an individual,� said Jacobs. �The guy talking about that is me. �I remind them where they are as individuals,� said Jacobs. �They don�t care about that. They want the team to go. That is a really good attitude.� As Marshall moves on in the cross country season, the runners feel that they are improving each meet.
�The back half of the varsity pack is really picking it up,� said Tauer. �We are catching up to the guys in the front. �We are really pulling together as a team,� said Tauer. �When we run as a pack we work together and get in front of other teams and throw certain people out in front.�
Other teams are also seeing what the Tiger boys are doing. At many of the local meets Marshall is able to dominate the competition. �(Other teams) are pretty scared because we usually start out together and all of a sudden after the first half mile we go out hard,� said Allen. �It�s a mental thing that the other teams get psyched out. If I was the other team I would get psyched out.�
�I think other teams get really intimidated,� said Johnson. �They are beginning to fear Marshall. They give us a lot of respect.� The Tiger boys are looking to gain respect with each meet, working their way though the sections and into state.
�We always have a conference goal and they are in the driver�s seat there,� said Jacobs. �We want to get back to the state, but it�s not a guarantee. If we falter at all in the section we could miss it. We want to step it up a notch and not go as the second entrant, but be the first one from our section.�
-Courtesy Marshall Independent