It might be a mystery to many how so much enjoyment could be generated by running until it feels like your insides are ready to rise up against you, but according to women’s cross country team captain Liz Ben-Ishai, you have to try the sport a few times before the passion takes hold.
“It’s a weird addictive thing,” she says. “My friends are like, ‘What are you doing?’ But you can really push yourself. You can see concrete results and see yourself improving. [It’s nice] being able to push yourself beyond where you think you can’t go on.”
This is why, in the days following the team’s third place
finish at the OUA championships, there was reason for optimism entering nationals. After all, the
podium finish (in a field of 14 teams) ended what had been a seven-year stretch without finishing in the top three.
However, the team’s performance at nationals the following weekend surpassed even the most ambitious expectations. The Blues overcame a Guelph team that had coasted to OUA gold a week earlier and leapt past OUA silver medallist Queen’s as well on its way to national silver, finishing the 5K race with a top five combined time that was bested only by perennial powerhouse Victoria.
“We got together the night before and shared some motivating words,” said Suzanne Garrett, a newcomer to the team this year. “On the line, everybody felt that we had to pull it together to be strong and we did. I think even we were surprised with how well we did.”
The remarkable finish is even more noteworthy when taking into account the last place showing (14th) at the 2000 nationals, when Toronto earned a bid as the host.
The team was led by a triumvirate of personalities that combined to give the group what it needed when it needed it most. The composed nature of fifth-year pharmacy student Garrett was complemented by the quirky, forthright attitude of second-year commerce major Sasha Gollish and the vocal leadership of Ben-Ishai. In addition to the top three runners is an energetic supporting cast consisting of Anne-Marie Barnes, Sonya Goldberg, Nicole Van Beurden and Cassandra Wells.
“Sonya Goldberg was, in my opinion, the most enthusiastic person on the team. This girl never stopped smiling,” said Gollish.
According to Garrett, the team is comprised of a deep pool of talented runners who rely on Ben-Ishai to provide last minute motivation before each race. Garrett, a Trenton native, added that team members all have busy schedules outside of running, so they take the time spent getting to and from their meets to catch up on socializing.
“In pharmacy it’s kind of tough,” says Garrett of her seven-subject
course load. “We get together and have our social events. I consider running to be social time.”
In addition to the support garnered from teammates, a large part of the team’s success has been attributed to a junior development program where five of the team’s seven runners started training with coach Ross Ristuccia. The program helps develop high school athletes for long distance running without exhausting them before they reach university level competition.
“They don’t just want you to train hard and run fast. They want you to be healthy, too,” says
Garrett of the coaching staff’s approach to training. “They really emphasize that and I think that’s
really cool.”
“All of us have been running for quite a while,” adds Ben-Ishai, a third-year student who took last year off because of mononucleosis. “Over time you just run more miles and build up a base you can hang on to for a long time. It makes you more resistant to injuries so you can train more at a higher level.”
The degree of interaction inherent in Ristuccia’s coaching style is also a tremendous stimulus to the overachieving nature of his runners.
“If he has something negative to say, there’s always something that’s much more positive to make the negative not seem so bad. He knows all of us very well. He pays attention a
lot,” says Gollish.
While the program provides the opportunity to pursue running as a hobby, it also offers athletes the chance to explore the extent to which they wish to continue in the sport.
For Gollish, a ski coach in her spare time, a new passion was discovered which has yet to wear off on her. After experimenting with a bevy of activities throughout her junior high and high school years (including volleyball, golf, field hockey and nordic skiing), she found that running was for her.
“I was basically the athletic president at my high school my last year…That was the turning point that I knew I wanted to run,” said Gollish.
That desire to run is a common thread in U of T’s dynamic cross country trio, and it led to them an excellent silver lining to the end of the team’s season.
