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Men's Cross Country Becca Ball

Men's XC Flies to the Midwest for Another Power Five Challenge

Men's Cross Country Becca Ball

Men's XC Flies to the Midwest for Another Power Five Challenge

HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point University men's cross country travels to the Midwest to compete in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

"Notre Dame provides us with a great opportunity to demonstrate our fitness, toughness and our commitment to the team," HPU Men's Cross Country Head Coach Mike Esposito said. "Even though we had a disappointing performance at Virginia Tech, we haven't abandoned our long term plan, and we continue to work toward our end of season goals. We have a great group of young people who understand that we have to keep getting better one day at a time. "I am really excited to see how our team engages, concentrates, and finishes the race. We always tell our kids that running should not define you, but how you race should reflect who you really are."

The Panthers are scheduled to compete in back-to-back meets hosted by Power Five teams, meaning the team is up against teams that compete at a higher level and some of the toughest runners in the country. This gives HPU the opportunity to rise to the competition and compete at a higher level.

"I think that it is incredibly important to be competing at bigger meets especially those at Power Five schools," HPU student-athlete Ian Miller said. "We have high ambitions as a team and program, and competing against the best of the best is needed for the growth of the program. We want to be able to go out and beat these teams and make it to the next level, while also respecting that it is a challenge. The preparation has been very solid since the last time out at Virginia Tech, and I think we really have embraced the challenge in front of us. We know we need to be better and step up and the guys have responded well to the big week of training."

High Point has maintained the same strategy throughout the season in the face of the high competition: group up and challenge each other to stay ahead. According to Coach Esposito, this strategy is utilized by successful cross country teams across the nation, like the P5 teams HPU will be competing against.

"For the upcoming meet, our main goal is to definitely compete as a group," Miller said. "We have been focusing on the team aspect. If we can run as a team, we put ourselves in a much better spot to succeed because there is so much energy in running as a pack."

Last time out, the Panthers competed was at the Virginia Tech Alumni Meet, where High Point finished fifth of sixth teams. Hunter Steinau led the team, finishing 19th with a time of 25:37.4. Next across for the Panthers was Jake Tarosky and Reuben Kosche. Tarosky placed 28th with a time of 25:58.6, while Kosche was right on his tail in 29th, clocking a time of 25:58.7. Miller was the fourth Panther to finish, running a time of 26:09.8, landing him in 31st. Ten seconds later, Kyle Spencer finished with a time of 26:19.0, good for 35th. 

Also running for High Point was Kyler Koning (40th), Gavin Stevens (41st), Jacob Fiorillo (57th), Aiden Morrison (62nd), Peter Imhof (63rd), James Wallace (74th), Klaus Mangeot (81st), Zach Davis (84th), Tyler Rogers (86th), Evan Parkerson (93rd), and Sterling Sharpe (95th).

"It was a bit of a tough go of things last time out," Miller said. "When things get challenging, it really becomes almost a fork in the road, you either decide to embrace the challenge and get after it, or you look for the easy way out. I think both personally, and team-wise, we have embraced the challenge and learned that we must be better moving forward. We have to have more grit and be willing to embrace getting uncomfortable. I firmly believe in the group of guys we have, and the training response has been positive so far. I am excited to see things continue to trend in the right direction, with great intensity moving forward. Notre Dame will definitely be a great opportunity to show who we are as a program."

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Players Mentioned

Jacob Fiorillo

Jacob Fiorillo

Sophomore
Kyler Koning

Kyler Koning

Junior
Klaus Mangeot

Klaus Mangeot

Sophomore
Ian Miller

Ian Miller

5' 8"
Graduate Student
Aiden Morrison

Aiden Morrison

5' 9"
Senior
Evan Parkerson

Evan Parkerson

Sophomore
Hunter Steinau

Hunter Steinau

6' 2"
Senior
Jake Tarosky

Jake Tarosky

6' 0"
Senior
Zach Davis

Zach Davis

6' 1"
Freshman
Peter Imhof

Peter Imhof

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jacob Fiorillo

Jacob Fiorillo

Sophomore
Kyler Koning

Kyler Koning

Junior
Klaus Mangeot

Klaus Mangeot

Sophomore
Ian Miller

Ian Miller

5' 8"
Graduate Student
Aiden Morrison

Aiden Morrison

5' 9"
Senior
Evan Parkerson

Evan Parkerson

Sophomore
Hunter Steinau

Hunter Steinau

6' 2"
Senior
Jake Tarosky

Jake Tarosky

6' 0"
Senior
Zach Davis

Zach Davis

6' 1"
Freshman
Peter Imhof

Peter Imhof

Freshman