In his first season coaching the Southwestern University Pirates cross country team, Head Coach Steven Cary has focused on building the program up by asking his student-athletes to tear their limits down.

"I talk about resilience a lot, about running tired and training the mental game," Cary said. "There are times in practice where I ask them to give me a little more than they thought they had."

To help track this, Cary has turned to the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale. The RPE scale is a simple and subjective measurement of how strenuous an activity is on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being no physical exertion and 10 being an athlete's maximum output.

All season, the Pirates have pushed against the perception of their limits in order to break new ground in their athletic performances.

This weekend, the cross country team will face the most strenuous test of those limits at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference  (SCAC) Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

On Saturday, the Pirates will run at an altitude of 6,035 feet. And while the oxygen will be thinner, the cold temperatures forecast in the upper 30s means what does reach their lungs will create the familiar burn that comes with running on a winter day.

The conditions at the conference tournament will throw off the RPE scale for every runner not a part of the Colorado College program. It will feel more tiring to reach the same output.

And in many ways, the Pirates wouldn't have it any other way.

"At the end of the day, the deciding factor is going to be the will to endure more," Cary said. "It's like getting into a boxing ring knowing it's going to be brutal with both sides throwing punches. It's going to hurt, it's going to be tough, it's going to be tiring, but be the last one standing."

The Pirates have trained all year out of their comfort zone. By the time most people sit down to eat their breakfast, the cross country team has already been up several hours having already completed their workouts and morning routines.

When not on the trails, the Pirates turn to the pool, where the team can work to exhaustion without pounding their joints.

"We've had days where I'm barking at them, on a scale of 1 to 10, give me a nine and I'll tell them when to stop," Cary said. "And 99.9 percent of the time, they'll tell me, 'coach, I had another tank I didn't realize I could tap into.'"

The results have been promising. A trio of young runners have carried the torch for the program. First year Noah Dennis and sophomores Nathan Botros and CP Shaulis have all shown improvement throughout the year with Shaulis improving by a minute from a year ago. 

"Recently after practice, we circled up and did positives where we just kind of break things down with whatever I'm thinking that week," Cary said. "And I was just telling them to look at the difference between their time trials and where they are now. It's a night and day difference. 

"Development-wise, we're where we need to be, maybe even exceeding where I thought we'd be. We just need to put it all together on race day." 

Dennis has been a revelation for the program heading into the conference tournament with goals of making all-conference. 

"I can't say enough about what he's done to pave the way for the future of the program," Cary said. "As a first year, he's done a fine job of stepping up every time I challenge him. 

"In practice and in meets, he's just so poised and so passionate. I really like where he's at right now and I think he's ready to take a big jump." 

Beyond them, Alijah Ontiveros is finally over some early season injuries and Fred Banuelos, Doug Ginsberg, and Vincent Kim have had some of their strongest practices the past few weeks. 

"They're all pushing each other," Cary said. "And Fred is definitely trying to take advantage of his senior year and not leaving anything out there, leading guys on and off the course." 

Which brings up another tool Cary has pushed in his first season as head coach: pack running. 

In the team's previous meet, the Pirate Invitational, Southwestern focused on running in  a group. After all, one way of pushing beyond one's own limits is to lean on the strength of others. 

"I'm big on pack running," Cary said. "Nathan, C.P., and Noah all have to work together. Same with Vincent, Doug, Fred, and Alijah. Finding each other and keying off each other. They've been working great together in practice and I want them to continue that." 

They'll need to in a tough field in which the presumed favorite, Colorado College, is also the host in a setting where home course advantage means more than the comforts of sleeping in your own bed. 

Colorado College is deep and Trinity University has runners who can get on a roll. The rest of the field is a cluster where anything can happen. 

"We're just excited it's conference time," Cary said. "Showing up on Saturday knowing it's not going to feel great but through resilience, we're going to endure whatever comes our way." 

For weeks, the Pirates have worked through the upper reaches of the RPE scale so when it matters most, they can do the same up the conference standings.