“I need 20 guys, Smith.”

Colorado Track and Field head coach Mark Wetmore doesn’t often ask for heroics. He trains his cross country teams to run conservatively from the gun, post relatively even splits and catch more overzealous opponents as they fade in the last 2K. For Wetmore, when you’ve done the work, there should be no need for heroism on race day.

But even with this strategy in mind, when triathlete walk-on turned senior captain and consistent Colorado fifth man, Sean Smith, heard his coach asking him to pass 20 runners in the last kilometers of the 2001 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Greenville, S.C. he knew it was serious.

“I’m sure he’d done the math. We needed it in the last mile. That’s how he trained us - to let people die - and how we’d catch them in the end. It was to be expected, but I wasn’t feeling great.”

After years of coming up just short of the title, the 2001 Colorado Buffaloes believed that this was their year. With an All-Star and - in Sean’s words - “goofy”  cast of athletes including freshman Dathan Ritzenhein, Jorge and Ed Torres and Steve Slattery, it was Colorado’s race to lose. Still, Wetmore’s even-split strategy made for an anxiety-producing race as the field went out fast in the first miles. As LetsRun later recounted, “Around the two mile mark, there were quite a few comments being made … ‘Colorado's running like **it,’ said one impatient fan.”

That fan had a right to be worried. With the rest of his teammates out ahead, Smith wasn’t feeling 100 percent in the hot conditions. He was also nursing a secret injury. During the summer he'd herniated a disk rock climbing, but kept the accident hidden from his teammates. “To be honest, I hadn’t been 100 percent all season. But not 100 for me was like 95 percent. I didn’t have great days or terrible days. I just knew I had a job to do.”

With Colorado 6th man Jon Severy nipping at his heels, Smith “got his act together” and started hunting people down.

“I don’t know how many people I caught. In the 40’s and 50’s, it’s just a sh*tshow in there. A free for all. I definitely remember just thinking if there’s anything I can do to get by even one of these guys…”

Smith came to the line with two other runners at 30:27 for the 10K. A final dive secured him a pivotal 56th place finish. Colorado topped Stanford by just a single point, 90-91.

That 56th place was the difference between winning and losing the national championship. A LetsRun photographer shared a shot of Smith racing in a pack of four. The caption reads: “Two of the Guys Passed Him, Good Thing a 3rd Didn't.”

***

Cross country is bound by what economists might term a “weak link” network. Unlike “strong link” sports, where a single superstar can transform the game, in weak link networks a team’s success is dependent on their depth. Or in the case of winning the NCAA Cross Country Championships - the relative speed of the 5th runner.

In a sport defined by its meritocratic simplicity - the first to cross the finish line wins - cross country sits apart from the rest of running because of its emphasis on team performance. The success or failure of their fourth and fifth athletes reveals as much about the team as it does about the individuals. Great cultures inspire great performances. They feed the self-transcendence required for feats of glory.

But what defines a great culture? At Colorado in 2001, team culture meant embracing - and truly living - Coach Wetmore’s infamous “No Dilettantes” policy. At Syracuse, winners of the 2015 NCAA Cross Country title, it meant starting everyday as a team. 'Monday- Friday we met at the same corner of Barry Park at 7:25 am,” says Syracuse runner Philo Germano.“It’s no coincidence that the attendees were usually those who were the ones racing in the post-season. We could talk about anything in the span of those 30 minute runs, but usually it was how great we wanted to be and what we could do to make it happen. There was no flash to the runs, they were usually closer to a jog then anything, but the whole process of being there and being a part of it is what made it special.'

Colorado Men, 2001. Providence Women, 2013. Syracuse Men, 2015. In each of these NCAA races, the championship was decided not because of the heroics of a few superstars, but because their 4th and 5th runners displaced key competitors in the waning moments of the race. To hear these athletes, Colorado’s Sean Smith, Providence’s Grace Thek and Syracuse’s Philo Germano, share their stories is to hear a consistent refrain: Of runners who faced significant personal odds but fought through these challenges and exceeded everyone’s expectations, motivated not by personal achievement, but because they wanted to do their best for their teams.

***

“No matter what happens just be patient. It’s a long race.”

Five kilometers into the 2015 NCAA Cross Championships in Louisville, K.Y., Philo Germano was hurting. The year before he’d watched the race from his couch in Syracuse, sidelined with a torn ligament, as his teammates finished fifth. Fueled by the “fear of missing out,” he vowed to himself he’d be on the line with the team in 2015. And now, here he was, feeling rough after a blazing first mile, losing contact with his teammates, Dan Lennon, Joe Kush and Joel Hubbard.

“I thought I was in 100th. I thought I was going backwards. I didn’t feel like I had a grasp. Didn’t know how everyone else was running. What snapped me back into it was remembering this text an old teammate had sent me the night before.”

The text, reminding Germano to be patient, was that quintessential “racing moment” - the pivotal point where an athlete takes control of the race.  When Duke runner Sean Thompson surged by, Germano hung on, using his momentum to get back in contact with his Syracuse teammates, Lennon, Kush and Hubbard. The quartet was proud of being what they called the “B-Team” behind All-Americans Marty Hehir, Justyn Knight and Colin Bennie.

“We didn’t worry about them. They were so consistent, it was not even a question. Joel, Dan, Joe and I, were going to be the ones who were going to need to perform.”

Like Colorado’s Sean Smith in 2001, Germano was a walk-on. After an unremarkable freshman year and an injury sophomore year, Germano hit his stride as a junior, but was by no means secured a spot at NCAA’s. With the top three out front, seven other runners jockeyed to travel. Germano “never felt comfortable.”

A terrible race and 89th place finish at Wisconsin didn’t help matters. But a frustration-fueled post-race haircut left him feeling a little more “hair-o-dynamic,” and a renewed focus on the little things - nutrition, getting to bed early, stretching - led to some better results. He finished 15th en route to the team win at ACC’s. Incredibly, it was his first time scoring for Syracuse. He was 15th again when the team won Regionals.  

But, despite a perfect season, Syracuse was not the favorite going into NCAA’s. FloTrack predicted Colorado and Stanford would take the top two slots.

Their rationale for the ranking was a slap in the face of the B-Team.

As Germano remembers, FloTrack observed that “Syracuse has a great top 3, but no 4-5. Go to a local market and try and buy a 4-5.” Germano, Lennon, Kush and Hubbard went to the line in Louisville with chips on their shoulders.

“We ran a little differently. We felt like we were the ones not getting any respect.”

Before the race started, Syracuse Head Coach Chris Fox pulled Germano aside. If he finished 75th, he said, they “should be ok”  for the win.

At the gun, the A-Team - Hehir, Knight and Bennie - took off fast and the B-Team settled into the fray to race together.

“It was so important to have each other. We never felt alone, never felt pressure. The whole time, we knew Colorado would be there. We were just locked on those black and gold jerseys.”

Seven kilometers into the race, they passed Coach Fox, who let them know the team was in the lead. It was a shot of confidence, but on the winding course, it was hard to be certain.

“We were running like mad men. After he said that a CU kid flew by us. We didn’t feel comfortable.”

Buoyed, Germano and Hubbard took off together, doing whatever they could to pass runners. With 400-600 meters to go, they crested a hill, where assistant coach Brien Bell, yelled that Syracuse was up by two points.

“It felt like nothing. It is nothing. It felt like we were losing. You don’t know where 2 points could be.”

After the hill, the course went down into a small forest before opening up into a 200 meter long open field to the finish. In the forest, Germano remembers feeling like he “blacked out.” It was too close to see anyone. But as it opened up, he spotted Colorado’s Amar Moussa just ahead.

“All I cared about was trying to get to him.”

It took the length of the field, but Germano caught Moussa at the line. Tasked by Fox with finishing 75th, at 8k he was 53rd, and moved up 14 spots in the final 2,000 meters, to finish 39th.

Germano had no idea how many runners he passed. He thought he finished in the 50’s or 60’s. Only later would he learn from his sister that he was as an All-American.

Germano’s finish secured Syracuse the NCAA title. They edged Colorado by 9 points.

“It’s cliche and corny, but we were definitely running for each other. Everyone wanted it. Wanted to share it together. That’s what made us strong at the end.”

***

“So many people think running is a solo sport. Cross country in particular is very team oriented. You want to do your best for the team. It isn’t really about your place. It’s about how well you can run to lift the team up.”

Providence’s Grace Thek spent the months leading up to the 2013 NCAA Championships training almost entirely on an Alter-G treadmill. With a background in triathlons, her feet couldn’t handle D1 mileage and her three years at Providence had been plagued by injury. The year before the team had bounced back from the shock of not making the 2011 NCAA’s with a second place finish at the championships. The goal for Thek, who’d missed regionals in ‘11 with a late injury, was simply to make it to the line in Terre Haute. She and Providence coach Ray Treacy sat down at the beginning of the season and mapped out a plan to get her there.

That plan meant Thek spent her season on the Alter-G. For her doubles, she hit the pool with the Friar’s swim team and bicycled Providence's winding roads. Loneliness wasn’t an issue. The close knit team kept Thek motivated. They cheered on her Alter-G workouts in the training room as they stretched and rolled out. In return, Thek traveled with the team to races and cheered from along the course.

Her first race wasn’t until the end of October, in a small invite with other B-team runners to test her fitness. It went well: Thek surprised herself and Coach Treacy with her performance. Then came Big East, her first real competitive race of the season.

“I didn’t know where I ranked on the team or how fit I was. The race started at the bottom of a big hill. Our assistant coach, Kevin Myles, was at the top. I remember I was running with Sarah Collins, who was the third Providence girl at nationals, and I was thinking ‘What am I doing? Why am I running like this?’ It was the moment I realized even though I was cross training I was fitter than I thought.”

Myles had other ideas, admonishing Thek to “take it easy.”

Finishing 13th overall on the way to the team Big East title, Thek was Providence’s fifth runner.

“That was the moment I had where I knew we could do it.”

Nationals itself was a whirlwind.

“It was cold. It was freezing. We were rubbing baby oil into us at the line to add an extra layer.”

The race, too, was a blur, a sea of runners. “I don’t recall a lot of it.” With Providence’s top four, Emily Sisson, Laura Nagel, Sarah Collins, and Catarina Rocha, out ahead doing their jobs, Thek focused on what she could control.  

“I knew we had a dynamite team. I thought top 80 would be good enough to get us over the line. But with cross country racing, 10 seconds can be 40 places, so it was really hard to predict. I was just thinking about doing the best performance I could and that would be enough. I can’t remember what Coach told me to aim for. He just asked me to do my best, just needed me to push us over the edge.”

In only her fourth race of the season, Thek finished 76th, securing Providence its first NCAA Championship since 1995, with 141 points.

Like Smith in 2001 and Germano in 2015, on a team full of superstars, Thek was a perpetual “also ran.” But, as FloTrack later reported, she made all the difference. “Who’s that girl? Grace Thek is a name most of you will never know, but she's a big reason why Providence won their second title ever.”

For Thek, even telling the story four years later, it still ranks as one of the best days of her life. But not because of what she’d accomplished.

“It was about the team.”