MUXC Tries to Stay Positive Despite Season Postponement

MILWAUKEE - The 2019 season was a monumental one for the Marquette cross country program. The men's team tied its best-ever finish at the BIG EAST Championships and landed three members on the All-BIG EAST Team in Ryan Burd, Brad Eagan and Daniel Pederson.

As for the women's team, it was another sixth-place finish at the conference championships, but captain Caitlin McGauley ended up in 19th place, earning her first All-BIG EAST selection. She was the first MU women's runner to place that high since 2016.

Flash forward to the 2020 roster and both teams have a completely new look as Burd, Eagan, Pederson and McGauley have all graduated.

Even though the same coach is at the helm, he has a new title now. Sean Birren was the interim head coach all of last year, but has since had interim removed from his title.

"It's an honor to be entrusted to lead the cross country and distance programs into the future," Birren said upon the announcement in January. "I'm so excited to see where the road ahead leads, and I'm blessed to be a part of it all."

With new leadership among the runners, the 2020 campaign was set to be a season with an exciting new outlook.

"We had a pretty good group coming back," Birren said. "We're ready to be moving up in the standings. We had a great cross country season last year with those four all-conference honorees, and I think that's something we can duplicate again and drop those times."

A senior on the men's team, Paolo Tiongson echoed that disappointment of not getting a chance to compete.

"We were really looking forward to having a good season this year," Tiongson said. "We were training in the right direction and peaking in mileage."

The BIG EAST's announcement on August 12 to cancel fall sports put an end to that and left many student-athletes at a crossroads.

"It was super tough to hear since this is my last cross country season, which means that I'll never run cross country for Marquette anymore," senior Emma Moravec said. "Even though it means we don't get to compete, I do think it's what is best for everyone, safety-wise."

For senior Danny Peterson, the cancellation of his final cross-country season means he won't get to accomplish his goal of an all-conference bid this fall.

"I've been healthy for so long and running well; it was definitely going to be my best season," Peterson said. "I had goals of being all-conference that I don't get to try and make, which is really disappointing."

Even without an officially sanctioned season, Birren said the team is looking for alternatives to allow the runners to keep competing.

"The beauty of running is you start a watch and know what you're running," Birren said. "We've seen professional running teams doing all kinds of crazy stuff this summer, not being able to compete with anyone other than their own teammates."

For the student-athletes, their love for running will keep them training hard despite the lack of a season.

Peterson, Danny — Danny Peterson, although disappointed in the season being postponed, will continue training for competition.

"I still love running and I'm still going to run every day," Peterson said. "What's good about being in my sport is that it's a lifelong sport and I'll be competing in it after college as long as I still love the sport. It's so easy to go outside and go for a run whenever."

Tiongson said he and the rest of the seniors are trying to set goals and keep each other motivated even without a season to prepare for.

"We still hold each other accountable by running and having something to train for," Tiongson said. "We're still training, getting our runs in every day. Some of us have set goals for later in the fall, even if we don't have a season, to (get a) personal record in a longer distance event, to keep us motivated in a way."

Tiongson, Paolo — Paolo Tiongson competes at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational last fall.

Because the team will still be active in the fall, the seniors are being counted on to provide veteran leadership amid uncertainty. For Birren, the leaders of his squad are not always the top runners, but the student-athletes who move the program forward.

"If you come here and you're the kid that's working hard and doing what you're supposed to do, you can be looked at by the people around you who say, 'that's somebody who's leading the team,'" Birren said. "We've got some seniors in that role now, they've got level heads on their shoulders, and they know what the athletes around them need to be doing."

For Moravec and the rest of the senior leaders, the COVID-19 pandemic has made their job a lot more difficult.

"It's so hard to be a leader at a time like this because you don't get to interact with all of your teammates on a daily basis," Moravec said. "We've been working really hard to organize team events, socially-distanced and virtual, just trying to get everyone together."

Emma Moravec is still hoping to compete in cross country during her senior year.

Regardless of the status of the season, Birren's message to everyone from his youngest to oldest runners is simple.

"In the end, it's all just running," Birren said. "From day-to-day and week-to-week, let's get through and be healthy. Let's keep moving, stay motivated, and take it one race at a time."

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).