Allen Community College cross country coach Vince DeGrado has made no secret that he is not very concerned with his team’s meet performances until the end of the season.
DeGrado subscribes to the belief that his runners will perform best on the big stage if they focus on their training during the season and not as much on individual meets. The strategy that has paid huge dividends throughout the career of the national championship-winning coach will be put to the test again this Saturday when his Red Devils compete at the national championship meet in El Dorado.
“I know we are ready, we really are,” DeGrado said. “We look so much better this week… I hate using the word ‘peak,’ because I think that is something coaches tell their athletes to make them feel good about something that is mythical, but we look sharp. We look really sharp.”
The women will begin the meet at 11 a.m. The Red Devils are currently the seventh-ranked team in the nation.
After battling injuries all season, the women’s team is finally healthy and they will be looking to make a splash led by All-American candidates Kaitlyn Shoemaker, Abby Stienhauser and Vicky Ibarra.
“We are full-strength,” DeGrado said. “We have the talent and skill set to become a podium team. All it takes is one race.”
The men enter their noon race with the No. 4 national ranking and DeGrado thinks they will have a great shot to end the day on the podium.
“Ladies and men, it is going to take our best effort,” DeGrado said. “We don’t need another team to falter though, if we run to the best of our ability we will position our ourselves in that position.”
The Red Devils will be led around the track in each race by a their sophomore leaders, Shoemaker and Ricardo Banuelos, who hope to end their Red Devil careers with big-time performances in their final national championship meet.
“(Kaitlyn) is a top-5 runner, she just needs to believe in herself as much as I do,” DeGrado said. “Top-5 is the goal for her and Ricardo. Ricardo is a gamer when it comes to competing and racing… They both look fast this week, they looked really fast on Monday.”
The meet will take place on Saturday at the Prairie Trails Golf Course in El Dorado with the women running at 11 a.m., and the men at noon. Awards presentation will follow at 1:30 p.m.
“Just the way we are looking right now,” DeGrado said. “It is going to be interesting. It is going to be really interesting… Everything points in the direction of this being a stand-out race”
PODIUM BOUND?: Red Devils aim to make a statement
