For those who are used to the rise-and-shine gun start to begin the cross country season at Chili Greens (72nd and Spring), give the alarm clocks a break this year. The women’s race will begin at 10 AM with the men to follow at 10:45 AM.
Before the Jays take to the course Saturday morning, let’s take a look at what we can expect from each team this season.
Men’s Team
The captain of the 2011 men’s team is junior Chris Culhane. The junior from Shawano, Wisconsin looks to improve on a 2010 season during which he led the men’s team in every race. Finishing 30th at the MVC Championship to lead the team, the highest finish by a Bluejay since Jared Dittman finished 30th in 2008, the expectations for the junior are to keep improving. The previous year, in 2007, the Jays finished 4th as a team in Valley.
Chas Davis: We haven’t had a male mixing it up with the best in the conference since 2007. This is Chris’ year to do that, especially after the winter and spring he had competing on the track.
One of just four upperclassmen on the team, Culhane will have plenty of opportunities to teach the seven freshmen and sophomores. Davis goes on to say about Culhane.
Davis: On and off the course, we couldn’t ask for a better leader. Regardless of where he finishes and what times he runs, his real legacy will be helping to establish the culture and attitude of this team for years to come.
The lone senior runner is Casey Jergenson from Omaha (Millard North). Jergenson has shown that hard work will not go unnoticed. In 2008 and 2009, Jergenson was the recipient of the Most Improve Runner Award. Entering his senior season, Davis had this to say about Jergenson.
Casey understands that this (cross country) is a lifestyle more than anyone else here. He’s always on top of all the little things outside of practice that do the most to help develop a runner over time. He’s also the one who’s improved most over his time here.
Also returning with experience are juniors Mike Hitt and Tom Shimp. Both runners showed vast improvement as the season went on last year. Hitt ran 29:18 at the Creighton/UNO Invitational, 28:38 at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, and a 27:26 at the Charles Bower Invitation in Salem, OR. In the same three meet span, Shimp ran 29:37, 28:46, and 27:00. It is that consistent improvement that Davis is trying to build year in and year out.
A group of four sophomores and and three freshmen make up the underclassmen. The sophomores consist of Danny Diaz (Sacremento, CA), Joe Ha (St. Paul, MN), Colin Honeker (Aiea, HI), and Jason Pang (Rowland Heights, CA). The freshmen this year include Quinn Biever (Bloomington, IL), Drew Prescott (Urbandale, IA), and Steve Raimondi (Portland, OR). Prescott finished his career on the blue track at Drake Stadium placing 7th in the Iowa Class 4A 1600 M. That came after finishing a successful cross country season where he finished 27th in Class 4A. Raimondi completed his prep career placing 5th in the Oregon 6A 800 M. The incoming freshmen have a good group of upperclassmen to learn from. It’s a learning process for both the new men’s and women’s freshmen runners as they adjust to college life and Division I cross country.
Davis: We told our freshmen that this is a gradual learning process so to just be patient, find a routine that works for you, and they’re not here to prove anything at this point, basically, train smart in practice. That’ll usually take freshmen more than a few weeks. With school work starting to increase now, they’re figuring out how to balance everything while remaining rested and fresh. It’ll come but not necessarily within the first season.
Women’s Team
The women’s team is more “wet behind the ears” compared to their male counterparts. With just one upperclassmen on the team, junior Izzy Squires, there are opportunities for leaders to step up.
Davis: Everyone is taking a leadership role this year. Hard to pinpoint one person or class. But we have returners setting a great example, freshmen willing to do the right things and make the right choices, and everyone is willing to believe. We’ll continue to see leaders emerge as the season goes on, but I wouldn’t count any one of them out from that role right now.
Sophomores Lauren Hintz and Meagan Wilderson are back for their second season. Wilderson and Hint consistently finished in the top-5 for the Jays last season. Wilderson worked hard this past spring on the track for Creighton. She became the first Creighton woman to compete in the open 800 M. She also was the first CU woman to run at the Kansas Relays since 2007. In all, Creighton ran in 11 different track meets, five different distances, between January and May.
Davis brings in four freshmen, three from the Midwest and one from our 50th state. From Lakeville, Minnesota, comes Meghan Barry. Joining here are Katie Huyck from Grimes, Iowa, Jessica Johnson from Waiphahu, Hawaii, and rounding the freshmen class is Courtney Sawie from Menomonie, Wisconsin.
The opportunity for the women to compete will come early and often. After running this weekend in Omaha, they will travel to DeKalb, IL on September 10 and run for the third time in three weeks at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational on September 17. There is not a whole lot of depth on this year’s team. Each meet will be an opportunity for the them to go out and compete and prove themselves. In cross country, each team consists of seven runners. Of those seven, the top five places are counted for the team score. Despite having a smaller squad this season. There are still several positives Davis and his team can get out it.
Davis: I like being able to spend more time getting to know and work with individuals. In this sport, knowing what makes everyone tick goes a long way. We are looking forward to building a bigger team over the next couple of years as the right culture and leadership continue to develop and attract other talented young women with similar goals and motivations. Our size this year will help guide the current women to a place where they can take over more roles with a larger team in the future.
See what else Davis has to say about the upcoming season in his interview with Creighton SID Rob Anderson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT8UdaeMpBQ&feature=player_embedded
Creighton Athletics 2011 Cross Country Preview with Chas Davis
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