SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams get one more tune-up prior to the West Coast Conference Championship in two weeks when they compete Saturday at the Inland Empire Classic at the Orchards in Lewiston, Idaho.
The women's 5K race begins at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 8K starting at 11:15 a.m.
Director of cross country and head men's coach Pat Tyson and head women's coach Patty Ley pretty much have eight of the nine athletes identified who will be representing their respective teams in the WCC Championship in Malibu, Calif., but there's that final spot still be to filled.
"All pre-conference meets are dress rehearsals. It's our last dress rehearsal. Two weeks from this Saturday is the WCC, the one we're peaking for," Tyson said. "There is a spot open. We get to take nine guys and we feel secure of our top eight but that ninth position is open and we've got several candidates trying to get into that spot."
"I think we always say there are one or two spots available in case somebody explodes and does something pretty amazing. It's a unique year in that the ladies have lined themselves up pretty consistently. I'm not sure there's a whole lot of wiggle room in there. If somebody shocks you then you have to take a hard look at it," Ley said. "I'd say the top eight are definitely set and I think nine is pretty solid at this point. It's kind of a unique year; we're 11 deep where they are pretty interchangeable parts. It's going to be a tough decision."
Tyson, who has been without arguably his top two or three runners all year in Brent Felnagle, Conor McCandless and Colin O'Neil, is getting O'Neil back this week and is confident he'll be ready for the WCCs.
"We're getting a little bit better. We had a lot of colds at our last meet," said Tyson, whose club hasn't raced since the Bill Dellinger two weeks ago in Eugene, Ore. "We're going to be able to add Colin O'Neil to the line-up this weekend. He'll be a little rusty. Danny Lunder was nursing a bit of a foot injury but he'll be back and maybe a little rusty, two. We'll be much better than we were at Bill Dellinger."
Tyson said his club is ready to go.
"There's a lot of freshness on this team. You can feel great energy. Willie Milam, Nick Roche, Troy Fraley, Kyle Branch; our top four steady guys all year have a good edge and have that little bounce to them. They look like rock star runners right now in practice, their attitudes are excellent and they are excited about going to Malibu. They aren't taking this dress rehearsal too lightly. They know it's a great tune-up opportunity. You add Lunder, Matt Crichlow and Ian Goldizen as our top seven and we are going to add O'Neil to the lineup so that's eight. There will be a battle for that ninth position."
Ley is going to purposely hold out some runners so they'll be fresher in two weeks.
"We're actually coming along really well," Ley said of the overall health. "We're still going to hold a couple of kids out. Some of it is precautionary; little dings and dents here that we don't want to get worse and a couple we're good with where they are at racing wise. We'll hold out Lauren Bergam. She's at a great place racing wise; keep her a little fresher for WCC and give her a little more time. We're holding out Amelia Evans and Zoë Urcadez. Both have a little ding on their foot that isn't bad and is getting better, but let's keep them from getting worse and focus on the WCC.
"Katy Culver was a little under the weather the other so we'll see how Saturday plays out for her. Lara (Tuthill) looks great and is coming back quickly. She's been working hard. She'll probably be a little on the fatigued side so it won't be a perfect race, but she should be significantly better than Dellinger and we're hoping for another good jump at WCC," Ley said.
The Lewiston Orchards course isn't super fast, according to Tyson.
"It's not super fast. Last year it was a little muddy and a lot of dirt. They say the course has been grassed; at least 50-60 percent of it has grass growing on it. They talk about it being relatively fast but if it's anything like last year it's still not a track type of flat course," he said. "The competition will make it fast. Washington State University, I'm sure they are not happy about being ranked 15th in the region and Gonzaga (13th) for the first time in history is ranked ahead of them. Rankings are on paper, but WSU will make the competition pretty good. Eastern Washington University, the University of Idaho, the Zags and 13 schools total will be competing; a lot of small schools. The competition will be fast."
Host Lewis-Clark State College is ranked fourth in the country in the latest NAIA poll.
Ley said for many of the ladies this will be their last race. For those going on to the WCC Championship there's some work to be done this week.
"For a lot of our ladies it's the last one. Let them have that day and get after it a little bit. With that crew that looks like it's WCC they'll be more focused on working together, packing together and keep training on that piece that will be their bread and butter this year and down the road.
"It will be interesting to see if people run "A" or "B" runners. I think we're all kind of in the same place protecting our athletes best we can for our conference meets, while trying to get the best meet we can and the best competition we can. The College of Idaho is ranked second and Lewis-Clark State is 14th in the national NAIA poll so there are some really good small schools who will take the chance to run against some bigger schools and test themselves," Ley noted.
Following Saturday's race the next two weeks will be about peaking for the WCC Championship.
"You don't want to shut it down too early because sometimes you get a little stale. Next week we'll keep the volume up and then taper the week of conference," Tyson said of his plan. "Continually work on their minds to keep things simple, keep things stupid, keep things fresh and make certain they are eating right and sleeping right."
Ley will use the time to get her ladies refreshed.
"Get them refreshed so the legs feel lighter so they don't feel tired," she said of the task at hand over the next two weeks. "That's going to have to do with how they manage their time because mid-terms are coming up. Making sure we are balancing the training with the other stresses in their lives right now. Keeping their heads in the right place; it's a 6K run on a good quick course, there are other people there and do what you've been doing and your bodies will be ready to do a little bit better."
COURSE DIRECTIONS: The course is located in the Lewiston Orchards just North of Warner Avenue. The street that leads into the start area is Park Avenue, but that section is undeveloped, so there are no street numbers, but if you use a GPS or map tool you can use 1001 Park Avenue and that will get you to the street that leads in. The starting line is in the same place as a year ago directly behind Ziggy's.
