ELON, N.C. – Since he arrived on campus over the summer, head coach Mark Rinker has been impressed with the established and resilient culture of the Elon University men's and women's cross country teams. 
 
"When you haven't had experiences outside of Elon, you don't know how special the team chemistry and culture is here," Rinker said.
 
"Every athlete on the team has been open and excited to listen to me and try to build a relationship with me. They have some trust that we can get them to where they want to go," Rinker added.
 
Rinker took over on July 1 after it was announced in early June that former Elon head coach Kevin Jermyn would take the head coach position at Duke University. Though it was jarring to stomach at first, redshirt sophomore and captain Evan Taylor knew no matter what happened, the team's common love and passion could get them through anything.
 
"The messaging from me and from my other captain Nate [Mars] was regardless of who comes in and who leaves, this group of guys is a team. It's who we are, that's not going to change," Taylor said.
 
With the men's roster returning 12 runners from last season, Taylor sees the consistency of the men's team that has remained intact over the years as unique compared to most programs around the country.
 
"We had a big class come in freshman year and now it's carried into junior year, which is very different from other teams," Taylor said.
 
In addition to the group seeing little roster turnover in recent years, Taylor said that because the team has a shared interest in "putting in the work," he believes that their united pursuit will push them to compete for wins.

"We have a large group of guys that are committed to the same thing. People aren't doing their own thing; we have a common goal, a common idea of what we want to do," Taylor said. "Our common love for running is completely different from any other team that they've had here in a while."

Graduate student and captain Madison Synowiec of the women's team said because the coaching transition was made over the summer, she felt like there was an extra layer of difficulty to handling a change in situation as opposed to being on campus with the rest of her teammates and new coaching staff. 

"The transition over the summer made it a little tougher," Synowiec said. "Like coach Rinker said, we didn't know him yet, he didn't know us, so it was hard to switch over from the training that coach Kevin [Jermyn] had given us over the summer into a totally new training plan without really being in person to get a feel for how we were handling the training."

Rinker echoed Synowiec's thoughts about making the adjustment over the summer, but is confident that his team was in a much better position than they originally thought. 

"In the summer, when they're going through the transition and all the training on your own, sometimes it feels harder, sometimes you feel lonely doing it," Rinker said. "But then everybody came back to campus and I think they realized that they're in a better place than they might have thought they were."

Although the women are coming off five consecutive CAA titles, there were many graduates and transfers who departed the program last offseason. Synowiec and junior Katie Blount are the only two runners to return of the top seven for Elon who finished at league championships last fall. Despite losing a lot of talent, Synowiec said the group being a bit of an underdog compared to recent years has her excited. 

"They're not expecting us to win this year, but that's what makes it even more exciting for us because we know that we are a great team still," Synowiec said.

While the women have 17 returners on the squad, there are 12 newcomers being welcomed to the team. Although the group is not quite as full as elder statesmen as it was last year, Synowiec said she thinks the team's collective, process-oriented approach could be a springboard to success. 

"We have a really young team, but everyone's here to run and to win, so I think we're really going to surprise people," Synowiec said.

"We've won the past five years. Our goals and expectations are to try to win again this year," Synowiec added. "That's our mindset going in. Yes, we want to win, but we also just want to enjoy the process and enjoy every day because we know that's what it takes to be champions."

Rinker is obsessed with the process. He wants his team to get excited about the process. It is clear he wants to push his athletes, because he knows he can tap into their full potential and more. 

"You don't win conference on September 4, you win conference on November 1," Rinker said. "Every day we just need to get a little bit better and push each other to reach our individual goals and teams goals." 

"Bringing consistent effort and positive energy and excitement every day to practice. I just believe, practice who you want to be," Rinker added.

Having intensity, passion and excitement every day is of the utmost importance to Rinker. While Synowiec and Taylor said both teams have been pushing themselves in workouts, they enjoy the process that goes into it because of how well the staff treats each runner every day. 

"There is a genuine sense of care that comes from the coaching staff and is equally distributed amongst all athletes," Taylor said. "I feel as though coach Rinker, coach Christian, genuinely care about each of the guys, each of the girls as not only a runner but as a person. When we have that, and when we feel that, it makes it easier to push ourselves during those hard workouts and in races." 

Rinker's expectations for the season are clear, defending the women's five-peat in an effort to go for six, and to improve the men's team. However, he said as long as the team sticks to the process, the Phoenix will be in a good position. 

"Our goal is to defend our home course for the women at the CAA meet, defend their five titles, and to move the guys up this year and get better," Rinker said. "Those are the goals but the way we're going to get there is every day getting a little bit better and sticking to the process."

Rinker is confident that for any team to stack up against both Phoenix squads, the opposition will need to be on its A-game.

"To beat us, you'll have to really have a special day, and we want to put ourselves in positions to be successful. When we get to race day, we're going to be hard to beat," Rinker said. 

The Phoenix started the season strong by defending their home course during the Elon Opener on Friday night. The Elon women took home the team title in the 4K, and put on a show as seven of the eight top runners donned the maroon and gold. Synowiec took first with a time of 14:02.8, followed by three fellow Phoenix in Quinn Smith, Abby Beville and Mikayla Jones, who all clocked a time of 14:02.9. 

The men came in third place overall in the 6K, with Caden Strickland impressing by running a 18:39.8, finishing in the top-10 for the Phoenix. 

Elon looks to the adidas XC challenge on Friday, Sept. 20, hosted by North Carolina State in Cary, North Carolina. 

THREE THINGS TO KNOW:

AROUND THE RINK(ER) 
Newly minted Phoenix head coach Mark Rinker hails from Brevard, North Carolina and has experience from coast to coast. The 2008 James Madison graduate was the previous head coach for Eastern Michigan and had stints at UNC Chapel Hill, LSU, Northeastern and Nike Oregon Track Club Elite. 

DEFEND HOME COURSE
The Phoenix play host to three home meets this season including the Elon Opener, the Phoenix Invitational and the CAA Championship. 

GREAT GRADS-BY
The Phoenix women have three seasoned veteran leaders in graduate students Madison Synowiec, Mikayla Jones and Mariana Martinez. The three began their respective collegiate running careers at Queens University, Catawba College and Texas Christian University but are finishing it out in the maroon and gold. 
 

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'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.

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