The men’s and women’s cross-country teams will run their first meet at full strength, coaches said. Both teams begin the three-month road to regionals without any serious injuries hampering their runners.
Yet, for two of the men runners, tomorrow’s season opener marks officially a long return from injury. For medically redshirted junior Amy Kerst, it means the beginning of a season on the sidelines.
Junior Matt Perkins and senior captain Matt Van Egmond will both compete for the first time since indoor track season when they take the line tomorrow at Michigan State University.
Perkins last competed in February, when he was running through a nagging knee injury.
The persistent pain, however, turned out to be from a partially torn meniscus – a serious injury.
After surgery in late April, he took a month off running to recover and then began training again at just 10 miles a week. Now, four months later, he’s back up to 100 mile weeks.
“Lesson learned [from the injury],” Perkins said. “Ready to train smart and get down to business.”
Van Egmond, who also returns to competition from injury this fall, said the recovery process can be tough.
“There’s that time of subtle panic,” he said. “You realize how far back you are from where you were.”
The senior captain was literally knocked out of an indoor race last spring. Tripped up in an early scrum in the mile, Van Egmond fell inside the track and tore a ligament in his big toe.
“As soon as I did, it felt like my joint was popping in and out,” he said.
He took 10 weeks off through outdoor season and is back in top shape. Even now, though, he’s still missing mobility in his toe.
While the men have all their runners healthy, the women will be without Kerst until indoor track season.
Kerst continues to recover from a broken foot and was placed on medical redshirt for the cross-country season. She sustained the injury sometime last spring, probably from overtraining on hurdles for the steeplechase, she said.
She was on crutches for six weeks after doctors put a screw in her foot in late May. It wasn’t until late August she started running again.
For her, crutches were the worst part. Physical activity, she said, “is like an addiction.”
“When you’re not running you go through withdrawals,” Kerst said.
Kerst said that, while she wishes she could be running with her teammates, she’s using her time off to get involved in other parts of campus: physics tutoring, volunteering, the math honorary.
“What is it like to be a real student and not an athlete?” asked Kerst, a physics and math double major.
Van Egmond said being a “real student” is alright – for a while.
“It was nice but not as satisfying,” he said. “Plus, I spent all my money on beer.”
The Chargers compete tomorrow in East Lansing for the Spartan Invitational.