Cross-country teams preparing for 2012 season
August 27, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country team has been preparing for the start of their 2012 season, which begins with their first of two home meets on Aug. 30.
Alaska's harriers had a busy week of preparation that began with a day of team bonding on the Pinnell Mountain Trail hike, followed by volunteer clean up and maintenance efforts at Birch Hill, strength and conditioning training on campus and around Fairbanks throughout the week, strength and endurance testing and finally a three-kilometer time trial Saturday morning.
“Our testing so far has been interesting,” said interim athletic director and head coach Scott Jerome. “Some runners have shown significant gains in strength while others are lagging behind.”
“Today's 3000 meter time trial really shows who has done their homework over the summer and who has not. There is no faking it in cross country running: either you can run fast or you can't. Technique and skill are essentially non-factors as fitness rules our sport. Running seven and a half laps on the track shows pretty quickly who is fit and who is not.”
Interim head coach Matt Dunlap was pleased with Saturday's 3k results. “The time trial went really well; a lot of our runners on both teams set personal bests today,” he said. “Its one of the more impressive 3k's I've seen since I've been a coach here.”
The women's team, who made history in 2011 by making the NCAA Championship for the first time ever last November, returns four runners with NCAA Championship experience, including senior Heather Edic, junior Raphaela Sieber and sisters Alyson (Jr.) and Kryston (So.) McPheters.
While they lost a pair of All-Region performers in Theresia Schnurr and Crystal Pitney, the Nanooks will look to the group of returners and the newest additions to compete for scoring positions throughout the year. The returners include seniors Rebecca Konieczny, Marit Rjabov and Megan Thompson and junior Heidi O'Connor-Brook.
The rookie class consists of Julia Ebner, Sara Falconer, Victoria Frehill and Ema Mayo.
“I expect our women to be able to take 5th or better in the 12 school conference,” Jerome said. “Reaching nationals again will be a stretch, but it is totally possible; we just need to have five of our seven-woman roster put together good races at the regional championships. No one has to win the event; we just need five solid performances. It's easier said than done, though.”
Saturday's test run gave the coaching staff good reason to smile. “A few of our girls hit personal bests, especially some who didn't think they would do so well, so that's encouraging,” said Dunlap.
With a 12-member roster the Nanooks will have to be smart with their training to ensure the longevity of the team over the season.
“Since we have a smaller team with less depth than some other programs keeping our student-athletes healthy is of paramount importance.”
“We are not a school that has 25 women running and therefore can afford to crush people until we have seven standing at the end of the season. That is not our situation and we have to be very careful with our approach. We use cross-training a great deal to help prevent injuries or help injuries mend.”
On the men's side, the Nanooks will look to rebound from a disappointing 2011 season that saw them finish last in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
“This year the coaches have a better approach, we have fitter runners, and I truly believe that we can get out of that last place position in the GNAC.”
“We can whine about the fact the Alaska Men's Cross Country has fewer resources than any other team on campus or in the GNAC, but that isn't going to get the job done. We just need to be better and ultimately our team has to do it. No one is going to do it for us.”
If Saturday's run was any indication, the men's team has the strength and depth to do just that.
“We had 18 guys run and the depth on the guys team is phenomenal and that's really exciting,” said Dunlap.
Senior Tyler Kornfield returns as the top runner for the men's squad, and is joined by fifth-year senior Lex Treinen, fellow senior Lars Arneson, juniors Andrew Arnold, Tux Seims and Wyatt Mayo, and sophomores Kenny Brewer, Stefan Hajdukovic, Logan Hanneman and Jonas Loffler. Also competing for a spot is redshirt freshman Ross MacDougall.
The newcomers include junior Max Olex and freshmen John Klein, Isaac Lammers, Nick Farrell, Patrick Terhune and Michael Fehrenbach.
Both teams will get their first tests of the year next weekend, when GNAC foe Seattle Pacific and Black Hill State come to Fairbanks for a pair of meets. The action opens on the UAF Ski Trails with long course races on Thursday evening beginning at 5:30. The women take to the line for a six-kilometer race. The men follow with an 8k event at 6:15 p.m.
Saturday, the competition continues on campus with a pair of 4k races. The men take off at 10 a.m. followed by the women at 10:30 a.m. The two days of racing represent the Nanooks lone home meets of the year.
Following their annual Ester Dome 5K Run on Sept. 8, the Blue and Gold head to Lacey, Wash. to partake in the St. Martin's Invitational on Sept. 22 and then the 39th Annual Western Cross Country Classic (hosted by Western Washington) in Bellingham, Wash. on Oct. 6.
The GNAC Championships will be hosted by Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore. On Oct. 20 and the NCAA West Region Championships will take place in Oahu, Hawaii on Nov. 3.
This year's NCAA Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo.