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Show . 111 CID - 'BIRD SPORTS - - THE UNIVEllSITY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY• MONDAY, JULY 14, 1997 - I Harriers look to run away with championship Experience will be a big key as Thunderbirds look to propel into the top-20·nationally Last year the wo m en had to depend on a freshmen and walk-ons to carry m ost of the load. N ow that experience will be a big factor as the women look to JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR win a championship. It was just two years ago that the SU cross country Sophom ore Mary Ann Schauerhamer came in as a captured its first-ever conference championship at the freshman last year and posted the sixth fastest SK time for cross co untry with a 18:23 at the Cal Poly 1995 America West Conference Championship. N o w Pomona meet. Schauerhamer carried the team long with thei r first season in a new conference just around with walk-on Esther Woolston, who posted th e fifth the corner, the 'Birds will look to an experienced best time in the SK at 18: 12. Both girls a lso ho ld squad to bring home their second championship in records in distance running for the indoo r track team. th ree yea rs. Alo ng w ith the return ers, look for three freshmen to Head Coach Eric H ou le is as optimistic as ever as he step up and lead the wom en this year, as t hree of the prepares SU for its first year in the Mid-Continent top fe ma le prcpsters fro m Utah join the ladies this Conference. Houle is confident his team has w hat it season. takes to go all the way. T eresa Rice, who com es to SU fro m Spanish Fork, "The stage is set, 11 H oule said. " We' re ;·eady to meet t urned in a time of 2: 12 th is summe r as she competed the new team s in th e new confe re nce." in the 800-metcr run at th e G reat So uthwest high The reason for H oulc's o ptimism is th e fac t that an school track m eet in Phoenix, Ariz. R ice is also experienced squad returns with three of the top ran ked nati onally in th e top-I O in the half-mi le. Ri ce wom en's runners from las t yea r, and a veteran squad will also be joined by Wend y Allen fro m Mountain on th e m en's side. Add to that one of th e most solid View and Rache l Po rter fro m O rem . All of them can freshman classes in yea rs fo r t he team, and a run t he 5,000-m ctcr unde r 18:30. Hou le said he feels cham pio nship could already in the making. rea lly lucky to land What Ho ule reall y st ressed such great recruits, was how mu ch faster the team k now ing th ey could is over last year. Last year, have attended any other w hich was deemed as a school in the state. preparation yea r for the "The women 's team upcoming entrance into the new conference, saw t he team could 4ualify for nati onals, 11 Houle said. rcdshirt a few runners and However, what Houle have to deal w ith a lot of bad weather. "We weren't as is rea ll y looking for is continued strong as we wanted to be, 11 improvement in all Ho ule said. In fact at o ne ti m es. "Seconds mean point in the season, the team everything to us," he went three weeks without competing. "That rea ll y hurt said. Looking ahead to the us, 11 h e said. · con ference AJ though weather co uld be a championships to be factor, this year's schedule held in November, s ho uld have no problem with Ho ule says the team lack of competition as the feels it has a shot at 'Birds go up aga inst som e of finishing first in the the top teams around the conference if everything country. falls into place. For that The team trave ls first to Flagstaff, Ariz., where the men to occur, the 'Birds will have to beat the top and women wi ll go up against Northern Arizona, which is two teams in the conferencc in Buffalo considered to be a top five and Youngstown State caliber team. The harriers also Buffalo finished first get a taste for competition in on the women's side the PAC-10 as they go up Chris Merkley (left}, a junior fromAmerican Fork, talks with Head Coach Eric Houle while stretching out. against O regon and and second for the m en, Merkley is one of the top returners for the men. while Youngstown did Washington State. Along with the veteran sq uad, the m en wil l also the oppos ite, taking first o n the men's side and second Also included on the slate is a trip to the Stanford look to several newcomers to step up and be a big part on the women's. Hou le would be happy to knock off Invitational where several top-teams will be included. of the 'Birds' success this year. the conference cham ps, but feels that his team is good Although the schedule docs seem a little rough, One of the top newcomers is JC transfer Jody Benson enough to at least place in th e top-three. Houle feels it is a chance for SUU to receive national who ran a 25:30 in the 8K last year, which wou ld have One worry about the conference championships is recognition, and give his runners the confidence that been good enough to finish fo urth at the Mid-Con the temperatures the team could face in the they can compete with the bigger schools. championships last year. The men will also look November m eet at Buffalo, N.Y. SU isn't used to "By being there and being competitive, it gives us forward to the he lp of two freshman in Cody Moat running in such cold conditions, and it could he a big that validity that we need, 11 Houle said. "Those m eets and Allen Boggio. Moat was a top-three finishe r for factor in the perfo rman ce of the team as tQ how well will indicate both wh ere we arc and where we arc t he state of Utah, and Boggio comes to SU from its runners adapt to the conditions. going." Mountain View H igh School, which has one of the The biggest challenge right now is just waiti ng for Houle has confidence for both the men's and the season to begin. Merkley, w ho is spend ing his best cross country teams in the sta te. women's squad, and knows that each runner will Overa ll, Houl e is excited for the mat urity that th e su m mer in Cedar City, cont inues to work out each continue to im prove as the season goes on . da y and prepare for the upcoming season, but wishes top five ru nners on the team have, and feels th at will Retu rn ing for t he m en arc juniors Chris Merkley th e season co uld start sooner. be a big difference fro m years past . and Phil W oolston, along with senior Ted Hansen " O ur overall pack is going to be faste r th an the "S ummer tra ining is the hardest th ing, " Merkley who is the onl y 'Bird to eve r qua li fy for the N CAA ch ampionship team from 1995," Houle said. "We said. "It is hard to sit around knowing the season is Championship. have a lo t of good guys- an y of the guys we have can still weeks way." Hansen holds th e SU record fo r cross country in th e rise and really help the men shine." With the experience and confidence the team has, SK with a time of 24: 15, wh ile also ho lding severa l Not o nl y arc the men fa ster, but the wo m en have there is no reason t he 'Birds wi ll no t succeed. T he records in both men's o utdoo r and indoor track. improved drastically from just a year ago where not maturity is there, the speed is there, the desire to win Wools ton, who ranks s ixth on SU's all-time SK is there. Anything can happen . one runner finished unde r 18 minutes. performance list with a time of 25:12, continues to By CHAD LAMB improve and is running at a faster time than he did last season. Woolston was a 1996 AWC champion in the 10,000 meters, and holds the m en's indoor record with a time of 15:32.03. Merkley came on st rong last year in his first year back after serving a two-year mission fo r the Church of jesus C hrist of Latter-day Saints, and finshed as the top runner for the H arri ers at the District m eet . Merkley also holds the second-fastest time in the SK with a time of 24:16, and broke and re-set the school's indoor mile record three times during the 1997 indoor season. He missed the NCAA provi sio nal qualifying mark by two-hun dredths of a second. Merkl cy's experi ence has him excited fo r the upcoming year not o nly for himself but fo r the team as a who le. Preparati on is a big part of how w ell a runner might perform, and he is us ing the summer ti m e to build up th e co nfidence h e needs to com pete at a hi gher level. "I' ve tried to prepare m yself m entall y," Merkley said. " I'm getting a little o lder and m o re cxperi cnccd- f know that I can run with those guys at the bigger schools." |