Men's Cross Country: Bringing About Change
August 26, 2011 | Men's Cross Country
Aug. 26, 2011
By Ira Green for UofLsports.com
Joe Walker brings something new to Louisville.
He brought change. However you spin it, good or bad, change is just that - something new, something unknown. Not only was the cross country team going to experience it with a new direction, but Walker, having been in Kentucky for less than three total months, is making adjustments as well.
"We all have a comfort zone and we get used to the structure that we're placed in daily," Walker says. "I have favorite courses that I love to work on and now I have to find new places to get something similar in return - that's difficult. If you're on a new road, you're not sure where the mile markers are. All of that is stuff that will come with time."
Unfortunately, time is something Walker has had little of lately. Prior to meeting the squad for the first time face to face in just the past week, he had to help with the moving process over the course of the last couple months of his family from Tuscaloosa, Ala.
While Walker might be still a little wet behind the ears after just arriving in June, the recently appointed cross country and track and field assistant coach has little doubt about the Cardinals' potential. And the Cardinals and coach Ron Mann have little hesitation in the talents of the Oxford, Miss., native.
After completing his 11-year tenure at Alabama, Walker had guided the Crimson Tide men's cross country team to four-straight top-15 finishes at the NCAA Championships (sixth in 2007, 10th in 2008, third in 2009 and 11th in 2010), the NCAA South Region title eight times and back-to-back team SEC crowns. Individually, his student-athletes earned cross country all-region accolades 42 times, and they collected All-America honors 34 times. For his efforts, Walker was named the SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2008-09) and the USTFCCCA South Region Coach of the Year six times (2000-01, 2007-10).
The list of accomplishments doesn't end there, and while his résumé exudes success, Walker is focused on what lies ahead.
A team tradition, the men's and women's cross country teams spent from Aug. 16-19 in Lincoln, Ind., to begin training for the upcoming season. Walker also utilized the time to get to know the student-athletes.
"That initial week is a lot of getting to know each other, getting to know the team and a lot of different personalities - figuring out who your leaders are and what not," Walker says. "I'm really pleasantly surprised by the tightness of the team. We have a group that functions really well together. There are very few people who don't fit in to what the culture of Louisville cross country is all about. I'm excited about the way that's been developed over the years to this point."
In addition to the team chemistry, Walker says he also was fascinated with the direction of the program.
"I think the foundation has been established. It's a good group of guys, and as they grow, mature and get older and stronger, the sky is the limit, especially for Tyler Byrne. With Mattias (Wolter), it's just convincing him that he can run cross country. I see it, and hopefully he'll see it. Tyler is going to be a beast over the 10K distance as he gets older. (Ryan) Eaton has shown a lot of flashes. He had a great tempo session last week."
Tyler Byrne, a rising sophomore, compiled a solid freshman season. Not only did he have three top-15 overall finishes in 2010, but he earned all-BIG EAST honors for his 15th-place finish - the top freshman time at the league championships. He also helped the men's team secure fifth place at the NCAA Southeast Regional to land the squad a spot at the NCAA Championships.
Walker, though, doesn't believe the Cardinals are just a one-man show. Along with Byrne, highly touted classmate Mattias Wolter, rising sophomore Ryan Eaton, junior Gordon Dooley and seniors Matt Bruce, Matt Hughes and Luke Lovelace, Louisville is expected to make some waves in a competitive BIG EAST Conference and NCAA Southeast Region.
"We know what we've got, and internally, we'll have some discussion about that," Walker comments on expectations for the 2011 season. "My whole thing with goals is - we're handling things every day and trying to get better. I want people to get caught up in the journey and not the destination. If we can focus on every day what's necessary to be a champion, at the end of the day, I think we can be a champion. If we get too focused on the outcome as opposed to the effort, I think that's where we run into the problems."
But with Walker's and Mann's guidance, problems seem unlikely. The biggest challenge Walker sees is making sure the team peaks at the right point in the year.
"There is a subtle art to it," Walker says. "None of us ever get it just right. We're always kind of tinkering with that. We're a weird sport in the fact that every `game' doesn't count. Sports have that slogan `that every game counts.' We want to be ready at the end.
"Tempering that aggressive nature of an athlete to want to be ready right now and fit, you have to be smart with the training as you progress. You do want a heavy workload in September, and you want to be tired and fatigued in September. But, you want to come out and be fresh and feel like you're really ready to compete in late October to early November."
And should all go according to plan, the Cardinals will be ready not only for a return trip to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind., but likely are to be among the competitors for some serious hardware.
Players Mentioned
