The Oswego State men’s and women’s cross country teams are both heading into Saturday’s SUNYAC Championship meet with goals in mind.

First year head coach Sarah Ritchie says these goals stem from past results in the meet.

“It is always our goal to improve,” Ritchie said. “Last year’s results were not as good as we would have liked and so our goal this year is to get fifth or better.”

Neither the men’s or women’s squad finished fifth or better in the 2014 SUNYAC meet. The men came close as they finished in sixth place, while the women finished in eighth place.

However, this year they have had several top five finishes. When looking at the results in the first five meets this season, Ritchie believes both teams can reach the goal in the conference meet this time around.

“I think we’ve shown a lot this season so far,” Ritchie said. “It’s a much different team this year. I think we’re definitely capable [of finishing in fifth place or better] because we’ve done it all year.”

So far this season, the men’s and women’s teams have placed fifth or better five times in their total 10 meets.

Ritchie touched on the strengths and the production she has seen out of the men’s team this season.

“We have so much depth on our [men’s] team this year,” Ritchie said. “That’s what’s nice about the men’s team, you never know who is going to be the best runner on any particular day, because we have so many great runners.”

The men’s early success has been largely due to the performance of two underclassmen runners, Justin Sommer and Dylan McCarthy.

Sommer, a sophomore, has enjoyed much individual success so far this season, setting multiple personal records. He believes the affect his success has had on the team is most important.

“I just try to set goals and focus on getting better each day,” Sommer said. “I don’t really think about personal records. At the end of the day, it matters what I did to help my team overall.”

Sommer said that he looks to focus on his role heading into this weekend’s SUNYAC meet, and added the importance of everyone contributing toward the team effort.

“As long as I’ve done my part, that’s all I can do,” Sommer said. “But if we all do what I think we’re capable of like coach [Ritchie] said, we can achieve our goal.”

This will be the first SUNYAC Championship meet for the freshman runner McCarthy.

“Definitely looking forward to it,” McCarthy said. “There’s a lot of people locked in right now. If we can all be locked in on Saturday, we have a good chance.”

Team chemistry is also important to the freshman. In his first season at the collegiate level, McCarthy said he has become more comfortable with his new teammates.

“I would say at first I was a little uncomfortable, being in a new place,” McCarthy said. “But I would definitely say that I am more relaxed now.”

In addition to being new to running at the college level, McCarthy is also growing accustomed to running a new event, the 8K, which he will run on Saturday.

McCarthy said he hopes to improve every time he runs the 8K.

“I’ve ran it [an 8K] before, but not until this year,” he said. “I just look to get better at it every time I run it.”

With the men’s team having clear goals going into the SUNYAC meet on Saturday, the women’s side also has goals to accomplish.

Senior runner Katie Laris is looking to continue her strong final season.

“I would really like to go under 24 minutes in the 6K,” Laris said. “If I can end up in the top 40 in the whole meet, that would be great.”

It would be a rewarding feeling for her to record that time, as Laris has yet to go under 24 minutes in a 6K in her career at Oswego State, although she has come very close to that several times.

In fact, her best time in the event came in 2013, where she finished with a time of 24:00:09, fractions of a second away from her goal that she will try to accomplish on Saturday.

Ritchie certainly has a determined team heading into her first SUNYAC Championship on Saturday in Plattsburgh.