Garrett Young likes the way his Kansas Wesleyan men's cross country team is running at crunch time.
The Coyotes will compete in the NAIA National Championship starting at 8:30 a.m. central time Friday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. They qualified by finishing second behind the host school and fifth-ranked Saint Mary in the Kansas Conference Championship Nov. 8 in Leavenworth.
Damion Jackson, a junior from Gypsum, was the individual champion with a time of 24 minutes, 57.76 seconds. He finished second in the 2024 conference race and was 111th in last year's NAIA event in Columbia, Mo.
"The guys we went through some ups and downs this year," Young said. "I think we knew the talent was there the entire time; it was kind of getting everyone on the same page and executing. We had a couple off meets. I do think we kind of rallied there in the last two meets of the season."
The Coyotes compiled 44 point in the KCAC race, 12 behind fifth-ranked Saint Mary which had 32.
KWU is tied for 24th with Park in the final NAIA Coaches Top 25 rankings which doesn't disappoint Young.
"I really like the low bar and lower expectations," he said. "I think we are going to shoot for some pretty high goals this week."
Jackson credits a laser focus for his success in the KCAC meet.
"I took my watch off, which I don't usually do," he said. "Just wanted to focus on Saint Mary's number one (runner) and not worry about my time or my pace or anything else. He started pulling away at one point, but I knew as long as I kept him within a certain distance, I'd be able to kick and catch back up. I hit that last bit and had to give it everything."
Joining Jackson in Florida will be seniors Jake Cruz, Austin Schaeffer, Ty Davidson, juniors Ethan Ochana and Wyatt Johnson and sophomore Evan Pearce. Cruz and Schaeffer also ran at nationals last year; Davidson was an alternate but chose to focus on indoor track. This will be the first trip to NAIA nationals for Johnson, Ochana and Pearce. Cruz placed sixth, Ochana 10th, Pearce 12th and Braulio Torres 15th in the KCAC.
Jackson said previous NAIA experience helps, but the team's prerace training is more beneficial. Tallahassee's heat and humidity could be factors so the Coyotes have spent time in the saunas at the Salina YMCA after their training runs to help them acclimate.
"It does help that I have that experience compared to someone who's probably never gone and is probably a lot more anxious," he said. "You have to keep your wits. It may be a big race but for the most part you've raced against quite a few of these people before. Even if haven't, I just know that it's another race. Not putting too much stress on myself.
"The heat is something that everyone's going to go through. We've trained for this with the saunas, we've run in the heat, and we've kept practicing no matter what."
Young said a fast start is imperative Friday.