Iona Putting Beliefs To Test

Alex Lohr of FloTrack keeps a pretty busy schedule and last week he wound up in New Rochelle, N.Y., to learn more about the men's cross country program at Iona College.

Lohr chatted with Coach Ricardo Santos as well as the Gaels' international stars Leonard Korir (Kenya), Mitch Goose (Great Britain) and Alexander Soderberg (Sweden) as they prepared for this Sunday's Indiana State Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. That event doesn't just bring excellent competition, it gives the athletes a chance to familiarize themselves with the LaVern Gibson Course, where the NCAA Championships are contested in late November.

Iona is actually the top-ranked men's team headed to Pre-Nats. Ranked fifth nationally, the Gaels will get a strong test from No. 7 Indiana, No. 8 Colorado, No. 11 Florida State and No. 12 Portland in the eight-kilometer race. "[The Gaels] have looked more controlled than they did last year," said Santos as he oversaw a interval session at Davenport Park. He even seemed a bit alarmed that his stars were running a bit too fast at this juncture of the season.

For Korir, who didn't start running until after high school and he has yet to slow down, last year gave him a quiet confidence. He won NCAA national titles both indoor and outdoor, but he still admits that he was "a little bit afraid going into (the) indoor (championships)." The victory in the 5,000-meter run helped him "learn to believe in myself."

Now, watch out. While he seems more focused on the team success than his own, he knows that if he does what he needs to do, "winning will take care of itself." He mentions Stanford's Chris Derrick as someone who will contend with him at the NCAAs, but he adds, "Someone might be hiding somewhere."

Included here are Lohr's videos, which also takes a close look at Goose's "Mr. T" look. A year ago he showed up to Pre-Nats with pink hair.

The men's race begins at 11 am on Sunday followed, at 11:40 am, by the women's 6k run, featuring No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Colorado, No. 5 Georgetown and No. 18 Michigan.