Marquette cross-country coach Mike Nelson had two goals for the men’s team competing at the National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame: have the top runner finish in under 25 minutes, and keep the top five finishers under 25 minutes, 30 seconds.

That’s exactly what happened. Senior Blake Johnson placed fifth overall (24:46), and junior Connor Callahan, who finished fifth for Marquette, finished at 25:29 to help the Golden Eagles place second in the meet.

Nelson explained that having “mini-goals” has helped the team stay focused on individual achievements while also working for the betterment of the team.

“We want to work as a team during the race, but each individual has to run their own race,” Nelson said. “It’s good for us to set these mini-goals in each race that we have, because it gives each person a job or role that they play and they know it’s important to the team’s success.”

Having Johnson break through to the front of the pack after pacing himself earlier in the race was important for the team’s success and also helped the team accomplish its goal of staying under 25 minutes, Nelson said.

“That means you have a front-runner,” Nelson said. “And you’re not going to do well if you don’t have anyone near the front of the race.”

While only five runners place from each team, Nelson explained that the more Marquette runners who can finish toward the front of the race, the higher the other team’s top five runners will place.

Senior Peter Bolgert, who finished 12th overall (25:06), was happy with the team’s performance.

“I feel good about last week,” Bolgert said. “I think the team still has a lot of work to do. But I think there are a few guys we’re going to see big improvements from over the next few weeks.”

While Nelson had his group take a more laid-back approach at last week’s Badger Opener, where the team won the meet, the pace will pick up as the team begins the heart of its schedule.

The women’s team also continued its improvement, placing fifth at the meet. It was once again freshman Kenzie Vicker who led the charge for the Golden Eagles, finishing 26th overall (18:23).

“One of our biggest goals is to be ranked in the regional area and just the whole idea of getting the pack as far up in the race as possible,” Vicker said.

In order to achieve that goal, she said the team has picked up the intensity and pace on the course, which in turn has led to faster times.

“We started out conservative, running just to get the racing feeling back,” the freshman said. “But now it’s go-time. It’s time for us to start picking it up.”

Nelson said senior Alyssa Beste, who was dealing with an injury, was placed in the junior varsity race at Notre Dame but would have finished as the Golden Eagles’ second place runner.

He also expects junior Courtney Kelly and senior Kate Moran to improve as the season goes on, helping the team to continue accomplishing those goals.