Florida A&M University’s cross country men’s team did not let injuries stop them from obtaining a successful victory at the Atlanta Classic against Tennessee State University, every teammate stepped up on the behalf of the injured players.
Reynaud Robinson, head coach for men’s cross country, said only five guys played this weekend because of the injured players on the team.
“The other guys took up the slack and won the victory,” Robinson said.
Even though the meet was successful for FAMU, some players say that the team was able to win because there was no competition for them in Atlanta.
Carlos Franklin, team captain said that TSU was the only school who was division one school at the meet along with FAMU from the other schools that were present.
“We were competing against everyone there, but our main target was Tennessee State because its division one,” said Franklin, 20, a junior biology student from Winter Haven.
Because TSU was the only competition at the track meet, Franklin said it was basically predicted for FAMU to come out with a victory.
“It’s kind of expected. It would have been very disappointing if we didn’t win even though we were missing runners,” Franklin said. “It was more like a practice meet, but when it all comes down to it, you have to take care of business.”
Franklin finished second, Daquam Lee finished first and Arthur Kendal was 30th.
Franklin said that the team won mainly because the other schools were not up to par.
“Coach Robinson did a really good job of recruiting,” Franklin said.
Franklin said that some of the top freshman runners are Ryan Singleton, who finished fifth, and Theo Washington.
“They are distance runners that helps us out a lot,” Robinson said.
Singleton said he was looking forward to the match.
“I was excited because I never had a team my whole country life,” said Singleton, 18, a freshman pre-pharmacy candidate from Panama City. “I never had experience running with a team.”
With a personal high record for the team, Singleton said he was pleased once the news got out about his improvement.
“I felt good because it shows every time I’ve been getting better,” Singleton said.
Robinson, he hopes that his team can get back healthy for the next game, Oct. 11 at the Disney Classic.