The 2010 men’s and women’s cross country team at Point Park University hopes to improve their times this season and capitalize on the addition of two new, number one runners to the program. The lead returning runner for the women’s side is Lindsay Dill, while the lead returning runners for the men’s side are Reuben Reno and Dylan Grunn. According to Head Coach Jim Irvin, Andrew Rowland is expected to be running number one for the men’s side, while Justine Mihael is expected to be running number one for the women’s side. Other freshman assets for the team include Jon Rohlf and Keri Rouse.”Adding number one runners to each side, we should be very much improved,” Irvin said. “We lost no male runners, and for the female side, Mackenzie Smith is the only one that we lost.”The cross country team started their preseason on August 14 and mixed up their training by alternating hard and easy days that consisted of interval training, speed workouts on the track and long runs. The men’s team has put in over 150 miles in two weeks, while the women’s team is working just as hard to rack up its mileage.Dylan Grunn, a sophomore on the men’s side, has high expectations for this season and hopes for improvement on both sides.”I’d really like to see our team have a solid beginning and end,” Grunn said. “[I’d like it] if everyone could finish with some kind of personal record and go below their average race time.”The cross country team runs approximately nine races and is aiming toward success for the District Regional American Mideast Conference (AMC) championships this year. Coach Irvin mentioned that their conference is “pretty tough,” especially because it includes three-time defending AMC champion Malone University. “[We will improve] very much,” Irvin said. “Staying injury-free is our key to success.”Excitement continues to rise for both the men’s and women’s squads as they gear up for their first race this Saturday, Sept. 4 at Westminster University. Becky Lessner, a freshman runner, is not only new to the squad, but is also brand new to the sport of cross country.”I love it so far,” Lessner said. “Everyone is extremely nice and encouraging. At first I was really nervous and just excited, but the coach and everyone on the team [are] really supportive.”Lessner is handling the transition well and believes that the team is already pretty “tight knit,” which will aid chemistry during the races. As for team goals, Grunn believes that they are present even if the team does not explicitly set them. Although last year’s team “didn’t do so hot” in terms of placing well in races, there is now room for improvement since each team has added faster runners.”This year we have a lot of stronger runners and a lot of upperclassmen, so we know what to expect as runners,” Grunn said. “Now that I have a year behind me, I know how to go out [in a race].”The cross country team has been practicing twice a day for the past two weeks, and now that school has started, they will resume their regular practice schedule of daily practices at 3:30 p.m. Coach Irvin believes that the preseason went “very well” as everyone worked hard and put in a great deal of miles.