Cross Country Teams Look To Stay Focused In WCC Meet
11/1/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams look to stay focused on the task at hand Saturday as the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championship makes it maiden voyage to Malibu, Calif., and Alumni Park on the Pepperdine University campus.
The men's 8K is at 9 a.m. with the women's 6K at 10 a.m.
The WCC event is rotating to each of the 10 schools, with Gonzaga to host in 2015.
"We're going to Malibu. Who wouldn't want to go to California and hang out for a couple of days? The course is about a mile loop so we'll be touring it about five times (for the men's 8K). It's flat, on grass and beautiful with an ocean view, although we hope they'll be focusing on the racing."
But the line-up Tyson will have on the course Saturday isn't one he would have anticipated in August when camp began.
The Zags will have senior Willie Milam; juniors Nick Roche and Colin O'Neil; sophomores Kyle Branch and Matt Crichlow, and freshmen Troy Fraley, Ian Goldizen, Travis Hensley and Danny Lunder at the starting line.
"Our nine athletes isn't quite the expectation we had hoped when we started back in August at our pre-season camp. We were hoping Conor McCandless would be healthy, we were hoping Brent Felnagle would be healthy, we were hoping Ned Fischer, who is our leading 5K guy of all time, would be ready to go in the starting lineup. But at the end of the day we have our nine and we have some pleasant characters there," Tyson said.
Women's head coach Patty Ley was faced with some tough decisions as the depth on this year's women's team was at an all-time high.
Senior Lauren Bergam; juniors Shelly Davis, Alison Fraher, Maggie Jones and Lara Tuthill, and sophomores Taylor Cherry, Katy Culver, Amelia Evans and Zoë Urcadez will wear the jersey for the women.
"It will be nice to have that combination of experience and the newbies as they are. They have grown immensely every meet in terms of confidence and competitiveness. It will be nice to go in with that group of girls who have already been there and understand the ins and outs of the technical things like where you check in and things like that. A lot of them have come in saying they want to stay nice and focused, have the right focus and right mindset, and those ladies who have been there before are excited about coming with a strong focus," Ley said.
While Milam is the only competitor on the men's side with WCC Championship experience - competing in his third championship - nearly half of the women's team has been in this situation before. Bergam is in her fourth meet, Jones and Tuthill will be racing for the third time and Evans has one previous WCC Championship race under her belt.
But despite being dealt a new hand because of injuries, Tyson is excited about the nine men he has competing.
Willie Milam is knocking it down and has the fastest Zag 8K in history. He'll be leading the Zags along with his teammate junior Nick Roche who is number two at 8K in Zag history. We feel really good about Colin O'Neil. He was one of those guys we expected back in August, too. He's back in the line-up, getting more rust off his legs, his workouts are looking good, he looks really good; solid confident," Tyson said. "Our true freshman Troy Fraley is always solid. His cold is under control. He's healthy and excited. Kyle Branch is 100 percent and ready to go. The other four team members are there to help the team if somebody has a tough race. Danny Lunder is back. His grandfather passed away and he spent the last week with family. His roommate, Ian Goldizen, is a redshirt freshman. Matt Crichlow is healthy and our little surprise, a guy we never invited to camp is Travis Hensley who is a pure freshman will be in our lineup for this weekend."
Tyson said Milam has stepped up to take a leadership role since being made a captain.
"Willie has become a leader. We made him a team captain. He's stepped up to that that leadership role. He's just so steady and has a lot of confidence. He knows how to look one of his teammates in the eyes and get them to really, really believe they can help our team reach our goal," Tyson said.
Bergam is the senior leader for the women.
"Lauren was second-team all conference last year and it's a deep conference. Getting her back in and being competitive at that level, she ran a couple of races this season at the Erik Anderson at Plantes Ferry and at the Bill Dellinger (at Oregon) where the whole purpose was to mix it up with that front pack and learn how to be there," Ley said. "We're looking at her to step up and run with that pack and see where it carries her, use her strength. She's got a little bit of a cold, but she woke up kind of sick at the Dellinger so if there's a kid who can overcome that it's going to be her. Behind her it's just closing the gap to her. I think our ladies are showing that these last couple of weeks. It's going to be a big pack up front."
Ley said it is also up to the other veterans to bring the less experienced runners with them.
"Our other veterans are key because they've been in the race before. If you look at the rosters there are a lot of women returning this year, so it gives them some familiarity of the field as well as the ins and outs of the meet. They are in a place now where they can step up and pull everybody along," Ley said of the responsibility placed on the shoulders of the veterans.
Hensley's story is one of perseverance, and it wasn't until the last meet of the season that Tyson was finally sold on him.
"Particularly at Lewiston, that may have been the race that really stood out for us because he ended up being a scorer for us as our number five runner," Tyson said of the Inland Empire Challenge when Hensley really made his impression. "No offense, but on the starting line he was just standing there like what do I do next. Totally green; an innocent young man like he's never run a race before. Then he gives me the eye contact like ‘I hope you approve of what I'm doing.' He withstood the pace and turned out to be a pretty cool guy on the team. He's like our team pet. We call him little pet Hensley."
But O'Neil could also have a big say in where the Bulldogs finish. He has only been training for about three weeks since coming off an injury and his only competition of the fall was the final regular-season meet of the season in Lewiston, Idaho.
"Colin is mentally exactly where you want him to be. I think the course not a killer, being flat is a good thing for Colin. When you don't have that strong base and he's only been training for three weeks, I think a little friendlier course is a good thing. He's good on the track, but a track is flat, so he really has good leg turnover and the course is one that will favor his style and his condition," Tyson said.
Ley said two runners have shown surprising improvement and earned a spot in the top nine.
"Hoping for in the summertime are two; Shelly Davis who as long ago as Plantes Ferry (Erik Anderson Invitational) was on the edge of our top seven even with holding out a couple of people. She made a huge leap in the workout the next week, realized where she could run and has run among our top five at any given time. Another one who I could say I could see it coming was Alison Fraher, who ran as our number two at Lewiston. She was out in the lead pack. I saw her potentially as a top seven, but she has grown into position to be a two, three, four kind of athlete and running very well there."
The WCC men's chase was Portland and the rest of the conference until BYU joined the WCC, and now the race is for third.
"Everybody is chasing third place behind BYU and Portland. We have a lot of respect for our competitors. Loyola Marymount is ranked eleventh in the West and we're fifteenth so I have to put the target on LMU. We're certainly not supposed to get third," Tyson said. "San Francisco, who we nudged last year by two points, is always a threat. Santa Clara and Saint Mary's are getting better. With Portland and BYU having a dog fight, both ranked in the Top 8 in the nation in the last poll, then there's this battle for third and we're excited about it. Hopefully, we do our best on game day Saturday."
The Bulldog women were picked fifth in the preseason poll, and that's a prognostication Ley said is fair.
"We came in the preseason poll at five, so that would be a solid finish for us. I hate saying that. But I think we have a shot to race in amongst that top four as well and maybe steal some points here and there and move ourselves up," Ley said. "It's going to be interesting. You have a very solid team with San Francisco ranked in the Top 20. They've run like it and tend to get better toward the end of the season so we have a juggernaut there. Portland has run better at this point of the season than last year with many of the same ladies. BYU has a much more experienced team after being very young last year, and LMU has a very strong top three with a solid number four. That front pack, at any given time, is going to be tough to score from the second through fifth range."
The temperature is expected to be in the 60s at race time Saturday in Malibu, and Tyson said he doesn't expect the weather to be a factor.
"You're on the coast, the ocean is right there out your front door at Pepperdine, so I look at it as though the weather is not going to be a factor. I think it will be one of those ideal days in Malibu," he said.
