Ithaca’s boys cross country team is off to a strong start and two of the reasons are senior Steven Merchant and Alik Helms.
It’s Merchant’s fourth season. He’s 27th in the state last fall in 16:33, which he says, ranks as an individual highlight. During the offseason “I put in as many miles as I could,” Merchant said. “I ran about 400 (miles), not as many as my friends did because I was gone and out of state,” he said.
The time at state was his personal best. Early into the 2012 season, his best time was 16:40. His goal for this season is to be in the 15:40s.
“It will take a lot of hard work, a lot of hard workouts and doing whatever the coach tells me to,” Merchant said. “Most of the time I’m a consistent runner. I have a pretty good kick; there’s 200 meters left, I’ll shift it into high gear.”
He’s looking to improve his second mile.
“I’ve been struggling in that one,” he said. “It’s kind of a mental thing.”
Merchant likes his team’s prospect.
“We have a good group of seniors and a couple of underclassmen who will be willing to step up and run their best every time they’re on the course,” he said.
Helms is a junior for the Yellowjackets
“I’ve broken my PR by 20 seconds this year,” he said, adding that he’s hoping to get into the high 16s before the season ends. “It will take hard work and listening to what our coach says and training hard.”
He’s the No. 2 runner this year after being No. 3 and 4 previous seasons.
His third mile has been his strong point.
As a team, “this year we want to go to state and do something at state,” Helms. “We want to win the TVC of course. I think we can do it.”