Four seniors of cross country stick together to stay ahead

Four years ago they were just four wide-eyed freshmen.

They came in excited, but overwhelmed.

Energetic, then exhausted.

But the one thing that has remained unchanged is an indestructible cohesiveness.

The four freshmen knew they had no choice but to succeed, and they recognized their need to rely on each other in order to do so.

Even before it was formed, the pack already had big dreams. A highly touted recruiting class, it certainly had the potential to anchor the program.

Now seniors, the pack ““ Marco Anzures, Alex Crabill, Jake Matthews and Marlon Patterson ““ needs but a final year to cement a collective cross country legacy.

Their running careers have surpassed times and statistics, course records and personal bests.

With a focus on the team, the pack has dispelled the common notion that cross country is an individualistic sport.

The pack becomes what the 12th man is to a football team ““ the motivator and intimidator, an energy boost.

It’s an invisible weapon, a separate entity that pushes the group forward, the fifth runner in a group of four.

Its potency was unleashed at the recent Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., last weekend where Patterson finished first for UCLA with Anzures coming in just two seconds behind.

“Marlon and I pretty much ran the entire race start to finish right next to each other, and it was definitely a lot easier,” Anzures said. “I think a really big thing you get is the energy from running with other people on the team. We wouldn’t say much to each other, but definitely communicate. We’d be like, “˜let’s do this’ or “˜let’s move up’ or “˜stay together.’ It definitely helps you when you are hurting to have somebody with you.”

Think of the pack as an army. By speed, sheer force and power by the numbers ““ it is brutally painful to see four pairs of matching blue and gold tank tops and shorts breeze effortlessly past ““ the pack is able to demoralize the enemy until it surrenders and falls back.

“If I saw five Stanford runners pass me up and I’m by myself, I’m going to think negative thoughts in my head,” Patterson said. “When you’re out there running as a team, that’s what you want. Not only do you want to run as a team to improve the team score, you want to make the other teams run worse, and you want to make them think negative things so maybe they’ll fall off.”

Strategically, running as a pack facilitates better performance and better scores.

“The smaller the spread is between the first and the fifth runner, usually the better the result is going to be, because they’re not all these people from other teams adding points under your score,” Crabill said. “So we try and run together for as long as possible.”

On a team that has had three of the four members of the pack cross the finish line first in each of the first three races ““ Crabill at BYU, Anzures in Arizona, then Patterson at Notre Dame ““ Matthews does not feel any pressure to do so next.

“We don’t see it that way,” Matthews said. “We’re focused on winning within the team and just finishing close together as a team. There’s always someone who is going to have a good race. If we’re all close, then we’re all going to be running well, and we’re all going to finish high as a team.”

In a sense, this describes the selfless manner the pack conducts itself in.

With a focus on the long-term objectives and in preserving the pack and finishing high altogether, there’s no surprise there isn’t any selfish gloating between races.

“In cross country, it’s all about the team and how well you can work together,” Anzures said. “You just feed off it. The bigger the pack that you have running together, the more energy you have as well.”

And the pack does feed off it. Quite literally.

During their sophomore campaign, the four all lived together in Saxon Suites, and it quickly became a close-knit group via the cookout.

These events were not uncommon, and the entire team had the opportunity to enjoy time together and Anzures’ fish tacos.

“We ran together, did workouts together, cooked together,” Crabill said. “It builds the team camaraderie and that helps us when we have to go race together. If you can’t do the simple things like do an easy run or cook a meal together, then how are we supposed to able to run a race at our all-out performance together?”

Coach Forest Braden seems to trust that his runners are feeding their bodies well.

“I think he trusts us; we’re not going to go crazy with food and stuff,” Anzures said. “(Braden) was on us this season to do the little things to get better. He talks about doing crunches, stretching. But he also means for us to eat and fuel your body right to run. We keep that in mind.”

After all, this is a group that had big things in mind as seniors in high school.

So much so that Patterson, the self-proclaimed “Kobe number two,” believes that if he were to give up his running career, professional basketball would be the next viable option.

Suffice it to say, it just shows how endearing his sport is to him and where he would be without it.

“It doesn’t even feel like that when you’re out there but now when I think about it, it is different,” Patterson said.

“Going to practice, if somebody’s not there, it’s a different feeling when you look around and you don’t see a face that’s familiar to you. (Cross country) is like a bonding experience.”

With the four completing three seasons together, it’s obvious that a familiarity has developed within the pack.

“When you’re running with your teammates you know ““ and I’ve trained with Marlon, Jake and Marco everyday ““ I know that I can run with them,” Crabill said.

This familiarity gained during practice in addition to off the field time has given the team reason to believe that any one of them could lead any given race.

It is this cohesiveness that binds the pack ““ being not one step ahead, but perfectly aligned, on the same page, while anticipating what is to come.

As the last season progresses, it has brought an even more intense focus out of the group: a focus set on a return trip to Nationals in Indiana and running with no regrets.

“It’s become a way of life. You can’t imagine not being able to go on a run, know what it feels like to beat someone in a race. I want to stay running for as long as I can,” Crabill said.

There may only be so many races remaining, but for now, cross country has become a way of life.

And it’s something the pack isn’t quite ready to relinquish.