Cross Country Preview
August 09, 2010 02:43 PM | General
August 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The casual observer might view West Virginia University’s cross country roster as having a plenitude of youthful runners and conclude that the team is in for a season of growing pains.
 |
|
| Senior Jessica O'Connell is one of the runners expected to take a leadership role in 2010.
Tad Davis photo |
Gone from a successful 2009 campaign are All-Americans Marie-Louise Asselin, Keri Bland and Clara Grandt, as well as experienced runners Karly Hamric, Mandy McBean, Katie Burda, Brenna Hagerty and Kerry Davis.
However, WVU coach Sean Cleary doesn’t believe in rebuilding or even reloading. What he does believe in is strengthening and empowering the current runners to give them opportunities to find success in 2010.
“The girls we lost to graduation have been great leaders and great mentors and we will miss them,” Cleary said. “For this season, any one of five or six girls could take over. All the girls are doing their summer mileage and putting in the work for next year hoping they are No. 1 and finally get to lead this group.”
Expected to lead the team are seniors Kaylyn Christopher, Jessica O’Connell and Kate Harrison, as well as juniors Sarah-Anne Brault and Ahna Lewis. A strong sixth candidate is senior Maria Dalzot, who has proven to be consistent throughout her WVU career.
“I sometimes think Dalzot is the forgotten one,” Cleary said. “I would say that on three to four occasions she single-handedly was the runner who unexpectedly came in and made us better. She didn’t know she was going to do it and then at the last possible second she just came in and did it for us.
“She also did it in 2007 when we won the BIG EAST title – just popped up when one of our girls had a bad day and she came in to save the day. She is also having her finest season of training since she has been in Morgantown - not to mention she has a 4.0 GPA and all kinds of academic awards.”
Christopher ran well at the 2009 NCAA Championships, arriving in 87th place overall in 21:21. She was named all-region after finishing 24th at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals and came in 28th overall at the BIG EAST Championship.
O’Connell was the first Mountaineer to finish at the 2009 ECAC Championships, coming in ninth place in 17:37. She came in 74th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals and also finished first for the team at the Paul Short Invitational in 10th place overall.
Harrison completed a successful 2009 season by racing well at the NCAA Championships and finishing in 23rd place at regionals. The Toronto native came in 21st place at the BIG EAST Championship and 20th at the prestigious Paul Short Invitational.
Brault, a fellow Canadian, also had a great season in 2009 as she finished in seventh place at the Midwest Open and 13th at the Paul Short Invitational.
Local Morgantown product Ahna Lewis placed 27th at regionals and finished the NCAA Championship with an impressive time of 22:13. Her best finish of the year came at the Midwest Open, where she crossed the line in ninth place in 18:17.
Featuring a well-rounded roster with a promising upswing, the WVU cross country team hopes to build on past seasons’ efforts and continue to improve in 2010. Looking to contribute this year are senior Jamie Cokely, junior Stephanie Caruso, sophomores Rachel Buser, Jordan Hamric, Aubrey Moskal and Hallie Portner, and redshirt freshmen Allison Pettit, Sarah Martinelli and Chelsea Jarvis.
In addition to the returning talent, Cleary has signed a strong group of newcomers that have potential to make a big impact at WVU, if not this year than in upcoming seasons. Added to the roster are true freshmen Josie Crouch, Alex Dent and Lydia Martinelli. Junior Stephanie Aldea is transferring from the University of Houston and sophomore Katelyn Gillespie is transferring from Cedarville University in Ohio.
One newcomer in particular that Cleary wants to further evaluate is Gillespie.
“Gillespie is one we have tucked away to let her train and make a good transition into our program,” Cleary explained. “She has trained very well and she is a pure cross country runner who loves the sport. My feeling is that she is going to be amongst our top runners this season.”
The Mountaineers will face another challenging schedule in 2010 due to the difficulty of the courses and for racing against some of the nation’s best competition in the BIG EAST Conference.
After hosting the WVU Invitational on Sept. 4 at its home course at the WVU Agricultural Farm, the team will travel to Syracuse, N.Y., to compete and have an opportunity to experience the same course that the BIG EAST Championships will be held later in the season on Oct. 30.
Before the conference championship, WVU will compete in the Paul Short Invitational and at Penn State two weeks later to prepare for the championship races.
“We will run the girls with less experience during the early part of the season for them to be able to gain valuable experience and learn the feel of competitive races,” Cleary said. “It will also let them see the courses and know how difficult it will be at the conference championship. If this group can come together as a team, not just as individuals, good things will happen. If they manage to keep their heads on throughout the season emotionally, mentally and physically, they can finish very high at every race.”
With the BIG EAST being one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Mountaineers will have their work cut out for them to compete for another league championship.
“The BIG EAST is amazing this year once again,” Cleary noted. “I would put Villanova as the top team in the country even after losing some key girls. They’ll be favored to win the national title. Syracuse is always tough and they’re hosting the conference championship, so they’ll have the edge to compete for the conference title. Notre Dame and Georgetown are also looking really good. It will be a challenge as always to compete in this league.”
Despite the challenging courses and tough competition, Cleary believes his team will perform at the highest level to represent themselves and the university well.
“The girls are working hard this summer to make sure they are aerobically fit and fresh for the next nine months for cross country and track,” Cleary said. “All the girls were made aware of their needs at the end of this recent track season, goals were set, and I have the confidence in them that they are conditioning so well as to meet these goals.”
