Bulldog Harriers Look For Continued WCC Improvement
10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 29, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams hope to continue on an upward spiral in the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at Crystal Springs Course in Belmont, Calif.
"These are pretty exciting times. This is my third year under the leadership of the program and here we are 24 months later from our women being seventh, our men sixth 24 months ago and some pretty high scores," Gonzaga head coach Pat Tyson said. "Here we are with completely different abilities. The runners we have now are definitely more talented, more focused than any team since I've been here."
And that gives Tyson some great optimism heading into Saturday.
Last season the Bulldog men finished fifth with 123 points, one spot better than 2008 when they finished sixth with 145 points. The Gonzaga women finished sixth last year with 134 points, just five points behind fifth-place Pepperdine University. The Bulldog women were seventh with 211 points in 2008.
Tyson's line-ups for Saturday will have Laura Volcheff, Emily Thomas, Lauren Bergam, Kayla Lloyd, Brittany O'Regan, Lara Tuthill and Brenn Donnelly on the women's side, with Chris Boyle, Willie Milam, Brent Felnagle, Robert Walgren, Christian Burger, Tate Kelly and Matt Bejar representing the men.
And Tyson has given his team one goal - break 100.
"If we can break 100 it's a nice goal for our team. Whatever place that gets us I don't know. It might get us in the top four," Tyson said.
He said the men might even be able to climb as high as third.
"On the men's side it might get us in the top three if everyone has a great day. That's asking a lot, we have three freshmen in the line-up. But they are tough freshmen," he said of Walgren, Felnagle and Milam. "Then we have a seasoned veteran in Bejar who grew up in that area around Crystal Springs, the San Jose area, and has run that course many times.
But Boyle, 10th last season in earning All-WCC honors, looks to be the Bulldog to beat again.
"Boyle is a Top 10 guy who is looking better than ever. His workouts have been spectacular. Then to round out the lineup you have Kelly, a sophomore, who has been on the course and Burger, another sophomore. I like our line-up. They are young, with only one senior in Bejar. But I do like these guys and I think they are going to represent Gonzaga well."
The women's side is a little harder to call, according to Tyson.
On the women's side it's really tough. I think our women are more talented than ever, maybe the best depth in history. But the conference is just getting pretty good. We want to throw that carrot to the ladies. If we can score less than 100 points then let's see what happens," Tyson said.
But it takes some solid finishes for that to happen.
"It would be nice to have a young lady dabble in that Top 10. There are some great young ladies in the conference. Volcheff is looking great in workouts, is a great co-captain and I think she is ready to go. She loves hills and we have plenty of hills at Crystal Springs. Lloyd has been our number one runner most of the season. She's healthy; she's run the course before. Donnelly ran last year and is a veteran. O'Regan is our other co-captain and it will be her fourth trip. Every year she gets better. If she can run like she did on the track last spring, and run with that kind of intensity, it would really help our team.
Tyson said Thomas is a redshirt freshman "who will give you everything she can. She's not the kind of person who's going to go out there and lay down. It's nice to have her in the lineup after being hurt all last year.
Bergam is a sophomore who also competed in the WCC's a year ago.
"She ran the course last year, so it's nice she got her feet wet, too. She's steady. She and Emily are like twins on the course feeding off each other.
And Tuthill, a freshman, also impresses Tyson.
"You have to like her. She knows what a competitive team is. She'll add a lot even though she's never run the course. But I don't think she'll be intimidated. She's been in high-end competitions like the Nike Nationals in Portland," Tyson noted.
Other than knowing the University of Portland will be the team to beat on the men's side and the University of San Francisco is strong on the women's side, Tyson said he "doesn't know too much about the rest of the conference. I really focus on us."
But Tyson made a bold prediction concerning Boyle.
"Whatever Boyle can do I do know this. He will run a very good race and I predict he will get better than his 10th-place finish of a year ago. He's looking great. Even if the talent pool is better he's just so much better than he was. He's definitely sniffing all-conference," Tyson said.
And he's hoping someone else will rise to the top to help the team score.
"I'm hoping we can get someone else who wants to sniff it out a little. If you can get three young men to finish in the "teens" then you've got a number that is starting to knock on the door in the upper part of our conference," Tyson said.
And it's the same for the women.
"If we could get some high teens and one or two low 20's then we have our number under 100," Tyson said. "It is nice if you can get a single digit - a person getting in the top 10 - is really key to the team placing higher. They (GU women) all seem to be within a 30-50 second window, we just need to drop that window a little bit. But they are experienced. They aren't going down with the deer-in-the-headlight look. I think we're going to engage in the race, get those little cards at the end and add up our number at the end, and hopefully it will be a double-digit."
The Portland men have been crowned WCC champions 31 years in a row, and they will be gunning for number 32 on the heels of 2009 WCC champion junior Alfred Kipchumba and sophomore teammate Joash Osoro. The Pilots are ranked 15th nationally.
The USF women were the 2009 WCC champs. Junior Hillary Kigar paced the Dons last year at the Crystal Springs Course, crossing the finish line fourth overall at 21:22
Racing Saturday begins at 9 a.m. with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 8K at 9:45 a.m. Teams and individuals are aiming for the NCAA West Regional Nov. 13 in Eugene, Ore.
