SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University head coach Pat Tyson took a little different approach to get his cross country squads ready for this season, and he hopes that approach will pay dividends.
The Bulldogs open the 2011 season Saturday in the Inland Northwest Cross Country Classic at Mead High School in north Spokane. The Bulldogs will be joined by co-host Eastern Washington University, Washington State University, University of Idaho and Whitworth University.
The women's 4.2K race starts at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 6.2K at 10:30 a.m.
"Camp was a little more select. We decided to have an invitation only camp - 18 men and 18 women - and our goal was to indoctrinate them with getting away from just being satisfied, just being here at Gonzaga," Tyson said on the eve of the season opener. "Our goal was to create an accountability of high expectations. One of those is the no bar scene, another was adequate rest which can be a challenge when you are multi-tasking high academics and the last one was a disciplined summer, what are you doing during the summer, what are you doing to build a strong base. Those are the things we need to do as a foundation, then let's go and chase some dreams. We focused on acing the classroom and being the best runner you can be."
The men will be chasing their dreams without their top runner as junior Chris Boyle is going to redshirt this season. Fourth in the West Coast Conference Championship a year ago, Boyle has competed in two straight West Region Championship meets.
But while he won't be wearing the Gonzaga jersey as he runs the season unattached, he won't be forgotten.
"Chris is still a captain," Tyson said. "He'll be more invisible on trips. Tate Kelly, who has a great personality, a lot of energy and a lot of excitement, kind of the cheerleader captain, and Andrew Walker, who showed some good stuff last spring on the track, are our two other captains and two of our top guys. The leadership up front is really good with those two guys. With Boyle not in the line-up, we've really covered ourselves this year."
The women lost two of their leaders from last year as Laura Volcheff and Brittany O'Regan are both gone due to graduation. But Tyson likes the leadership of the women's team.
"Emily Thomas will step in and be in kind of the Chris Boyle style, kind of no nonsense with high expectations. Then you have Lindsay Drake, who is more on the cheerleader style, not as much as Tate, but she has that kind of loving personality," Tyson said of his top two female runners.
But the freshmen - on both the men's and women's side - have Tyson bubbling.
"It's a young squad. These freshmen are unbelievable. They are the classic non-blue chip kids who are mostly Washingtonians who come with that credential of 4:20, 9:20 for 1600 and 3200 meters which you can develop into very, very good runners," Tyson said of the men's team. "I can't guarantee they are going to be out the door, but they are running 10-15 seconds faster than Boyle did in high school and we have seven of them on the men's side."
The women's recruits are equally impressive.
"We're impressed by the freshmen and we don't want to hold them back," Tyson said of the newcomers. "Erin Bergmann (St. Mary's High, Portland, Ore.) and Maggie Jones (Richland, Wash., High) want to share what they know and we don't want them to feel like they have to be, quote, freshmen and have to hold back with what they know. Leadership wise we are great, but these freshmen aren't bad leaders right off the bat."
But with so much talented youth it doesn't mean the Bulldogs don't have some battle tested upperclassmen.
"The men have some veterans. Patrick Richie is a pure junior who got edged out last year for competing at the WCC Championship. I seem him being a candidate. Nate Gesell is a pure sophomore and looks really good. Willie Milam is a sophomore who ran in the WCC who had some injuries in the spring but is back. Willie might redshirt, but we're leaving it up to him. Brent Felnagle had some injuries in the spring, and we might redshirt him, but he's seasoned. Robert Walgren is a veteran who on a given day could be our best runner. Erik Fagan redshirted last year and will challenge for a spot."
Two runners who have caught the attention of Tyson throughout camp are Paul Kupcis and Jared Christian.
"Paul really, really struggled as a freshman, and Jared, who is a redshirt sophomore, were the shockers in our one-hour run on the track last Friday night," Tyson said. "Paul, on paper, is our number two runner. Jared, on paper, is our number three runner based on what they did in that one-hour run. We have good experience and have guys coming in who ran better in high school than kids we have ever had before. There are a lot of guys in the mix," Tyson noted.
The women are Tyson's WOW factor.
"On the women's side, WOW," he exclaimed. "We have Drake and Thomas, technically both well under the school record for 5,000 meters, as our top two guns, with Lauren Bergam in the hunt to be right with them. There has been some talk we might redshirt Lauren because she has a really demanding academic schedule this season. She will run unattached in our first meet.
"We have some talented ladies coming in. Bergmann is already totally focused. Jones was second in the 3200 meters in the State 4A last year is already dialed in. They've been on successful high school teams and they know what success is. Like the guys, a lot of these freshmen ladies are coming in with high expectations," Tyson said.
The Bulldogs are picked sixth in the WCC preseason balloting of coaches on both the men's and women's side. Naturally, Tyson would, as he calls it, like to beat the odds and finish a little higher.
"It's an interesting program when you are walk-on athletes and are competing against people with maybe a little more money to bring in high-end kids, so it's always a challenge. But I tell the kids our goal is to develop athletes, develop blue collar kids and make them giant killers. Portland is legit; BYU on the women's side has championship trophies at home. You have to put those two out in front," Tyson said. .
"Our women have high goals. They want to go to regionals. Can we get some women to mix up the top seven, I think so. On the men's side we're picked sixth and it's a little more challenging with BYU, Portland and San Francisco not losing much, and we have a lot of young puppies. I consider sophomores still a young puppy. And we have Boyle out of the line-up. I think it would be neat to flirt with third place for both the men and the women,'" the fourth-year head coach said.
Maybe that fall camp will pay dividends, and those dreams might become reality.
