Spring Break
XCOUNTRY: Guilinger's injury dooms men's team to ninth-place
by Mike Prada
Editor in Chief
Sports | 9/25/07
Posted online at 10:22 PM EST on 9/24/07
/ Last updated at 12:31 PM EST on 9/24/07
Despite searing pain from a blister on his foot, all John Guilinger '08 could think about with less than one mile to go in his race Sunday was crossing the finish line. In the end, he not only failed to finish the race, but also jeopardized his season.
Coach John Evans pulled Guilinger out of the race with just under three quarters of a mile remaining, and without him, the men's cross country team limped to a ninth-place finish out of 19 teams at the Connecticut College Invitational. The women's team finished sixth out of 14 teams at the event.
Guilinger said the blister has spread to the entire bottom of his foot, and he is currently limping around on crutches. He said he expects to return later this season, but the injury should keep him out for at least a couple of weeks.
Although he was frustrated after the race, Guilinger tried to stay upbeat.
"[Getting hurt] is very disappointing, but I'm certainly not the first cross country runner to get injured," he said. "Some of my friends have suffered far, far worse injuries, so when I put it into that light, I'm trying to look at it pretty optimistically."
Guilinger fought the pain throughout the race and was among the leaders, but with a mile to go, the suffering became unbearable.
He tried desperately to finish, even taking off his shoe to run barefoot, but that only made things worse.
Initially, he was upset to let the team down, but refocused his concerns once he took off his sock.
"It was pretty disconcerting to see a pretty significant amount of dead skin not attached to your heel," he said.
The team was already racing without Tim Condon '08, Paul Norton '11, Mike Stone '09 and Dan Suher '08.
Condon reaggravated a knee injury last week, while Norton, Stone and Suher were given the week off to rest.
The rest of the team struggled, finishing with slower times than last week.
Rookie Mekonen Gendebo '11 led the way with a 24th-place finish, but his time of 26 minutes and 18 seconds was 10 seconds slower than last week. Matt Jennings '09, the lone upperclassman to finish the race, ran nearly a minute slower than last week, finishing in 56th place with a time of 26:57.
Coach John Evans pulled Guilinger out of the race with just under three quarters of a mile remaining, and without him, the men's cross country team limped to a ninth-place finish out of 19 teams at the Connecticut College Invitational. The women's team finished sixth out of 14 teams at the event.
Guilinger said the blister has spread to the entire bottom of his foot, and he is currently limping around on crutches. He said he expects to return later this season, but the injury should keep him out for at least a couple of weeks.
Although he was frustrated after the race, Guilinger tried to stay upbeat.
"[Getting hurt] is very disappointing, but I'm certainly not the first cross country runner to get injured," he said. "Some of my friends have suffered far, far worse injuries, so when I put it into that light, I'm trying to look at it pretty optimistically."
Guilinger fought the pain throughout the race and was among the leaders, but with a mile to go, the suffering became unbearable.
He tried desperately to finish, even taking off his shoe to run barefoot, but that only made things worse.
Initially, he was upset to let the team down, but refocused his concerns once he took off his sock.
"It was pretty disconcerting to see a pretty significant amount of dead skin not attached to your heel," he said.
The team was already racing without Tim Condon '08, Paul Norton '11, Mike Stone '09 and Dan Suher '08.
Condon reaggravated a knee injury last week, while Norton, Stone and Suher were given the week off to rest.
The rest of the team struggled, finishing with slower times than last week.
Rookie Mekonen Gendebo '11 led the way with a 24th-place finish, but his time of 26 minutes and 18 seconds was 10 seconds slower than last week. Matt Jennings '09, the lone upperclassman to finish the race, ran nearly a minute slower than last week, finishing in 56th place with a time of 26:57.
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