XC races at WCC Championships; men claim 1st for the 31st consecutive time, women place 3rd
By Lisa McMahan
Cross country season is coming to a close, but Pilot runners show no break in their stride. Instead, they are breaking records.
Both the men's and women's teams competed at the WCC Championships Oct. 31 in Belmont, Calif.
The women finished third at the meet, while the men took home their 31st consecutive conference title.
Several members of the men's team took home additional honors. Sophomore Alfred Kipchumba set a course record after finishing a full 36 seconds before the second-place runner.
A handful of Pilots were named to the All-Conference First Team, including Kipchumba, sophomores Jared Bassett, Matt Frerker and freshman Lars Erik Malde, who was named WCC Freshman of the Year.
Head Coach Rob Conner tallied his seventh WCC Coach of the Year award.
His team now boasts the longest consecutive winning streak of any WCC sport.
"I think our program is successful due to Coach Conner's coaching style," Basset wrote in an e-mail.
Conner has been coaching at UP for twenty years.
"He built the program from bottom to top," Frerker said. "He's the one who came in and made it competitive at a national level."
The men's team will compete at the NCAA West Regional in Springfield, Ore. this Saturday.
The top two teams from regionals automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships Nov. 23. Other teams are able to compete at this national meet based on their rankings.
Their accomplishments at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, Ind. serve as a backup plan for the Pilots' shot at nationals.
In the event that the men do not place first or second at regionals, they should be able to attend nationals based on their performance at the pre-national meet.
"We maintained our rank this year so hopefully it will help us out in the long run," said Basset, "but hopefully we can qualify through our place at regionals."
Despite travel delays that caused the runners to arrive in Indiana at 10 p.m. the evening before the race, they were pleased with their results.
"We did pretty much exactly what we were supposed to do," Frerker said.
The runners who competed at pre-nationals have the benefit of knowing exactly what to expect at nationals, as both meets take place on the same course.
"It's always cold, wet, muddy and hilly," Frerker said. "You have to beat the weather and you have to beat the teams."
In addition, the men hope to place higher than ever before at nationals.
Having finished seventh in the nation in 2001 and last year, the team is ranked seventh this season and hopes to exceed that expectation.
"We'd like to get over that hump," Frerker said. "In the long term, we hope to perform better than we're expected to and get a record place for the school."
Last year their team graduated four senior varsity runners, forcing them to go through some major changes.
"We have more depth," Bassett said. "I think we have more guys that can run closer to one another up front this year, which is huge for us."
A larger, younger team also gives the Pilots more flexibility in their top seven competing runners, allowing them to give younger runners more experience while some varsity players were able to focus on training.
"Most of the year we're training for regionals and nationals," Frerker said.
The women's team is also looking forward to upcoming competition, but is focusing on building up their team for next season.
"This year we are redshirting two of our best runners in preparation for next year, when we hope to be one of the top 25 teams in the nation," women's Head Coach Ian Solof wrote in an e-mail.
Although seniors Dana Morgan and Natalie Hemphill are saving their eligibility for a fifth year, the team is improving individually.
Sophomore Lyndy Davis placed seventh at the WCC Championships, and junior Theresa Hailey finished ninth.
"I have been most proud of the team's work ethic all season, and the improvement of many of our runners," Solof said. "This year's team is young and inexperienced but full of talented runners."
The team placed third at their conference meet, ending a seven-year streak of conference titles.
"My goal is for us to run to our potential at regionals," Solof said. "I want to see us execute our race plan and get a little payback for the WCC meet."
Both the women's and men's teams are training hard for their upcoming meets, which require them to run greater distances than their previous invitationals.
The women increase from 5K to 6K, while the men's team increases from 8K to 10K.
"With 31 consecutive wins and so much potential this year, I think we're going to do well at nationals," Frerker said. "We've got a strong group of guys."
