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Cross country teams eye big goals for 2012

Cavaliers start season at Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational

	<p>Senior Sean Keveren</p>

Senior Sean Keveren

It might be early, but there is reason for optimism about the Virginia cross country program’s chances this year as the Cavalier men and women both open their seasons Friday at Virginia Tech. The No. 18 women will look to build off a strong 2011 campaign, while the men seek a resurgence of sorts.

Last November, former director of track and field Jason Vigilante resigned from his position and sent the program into a brief period of uncertainty. Less than a month later, Bryan Fetzer took over the role and then hired two more coaches to lead the cross country and distance track runners.

Unlike Vigilante, whose specialty is coaching distance, Fetzer is more known for his work with sprinters and jumpers. Fetzer chose Pete Watson as head men’s cross country coach and Todd Morgan for the same role with the women’s team.

After gaining familiarity with their new teams during the indoor and outdoor track seasons and infusing them with new hope, Watson and Morgan now believe their athletes are capable of achieving lofty benchmarks during their respective inaugural cross country campaigns.

“One thing I always [look at] is how did the team do last year?” Morgan said. “Goal No. 1 is we want to improve on that, so that’s a first-rate goal right there just from the start. I feel like we have the personnel to do that.”

Improving upon a Southeast Regional victory and 20th place result at the NCAA Championships would be no small feat for the women.

For the men, Watson’s stated goal is to win the ACC Championship and finish in the top 10 at the NCAA meet. Those standards are ambitious for a team that was just ninth at last season’s Southeast Regional, but the Cavaliers have an experienced squad and no shortage of motivation on the heels of their disappointment from 2011.

“I know anyone who was on the bus from regionals back remembers how bad we felt, disappointed in ourselves,” senior Sean Keveren said. “It definitely motivates us to not have that feeling again.”

Leading the charge will be graduate student Mark Amirault, the 2011 ACC indoor champion in the 5,000. Amirault earned All-American status with a 27th place finish at NCAAs last cross country season.
Keveren, junior Chris Foley and sophomore Drew Paisley also return from last year’s NCAA scoring five. The addition of Zach Gates, William and Mary graduate transfer and a former conference champion in the CAA, bolsters the group. Redshirt freshman Kyle King came on strong during the outdoor season, running a 5,000-meter personal best of 13:55.60 to set himself up well for the fall.

“Your previous outdoor season is a huge component into how your next cross season is going to go,” Watson said. “If you can run 13:40s, 13:50s for 5000 meters, your fitness is getting stronger. Put a little bit more milage in, and in cross country you’re able to handle fast paces for longer.”

The women will be led by a seasoned veteran of their own in graduate student Catherine White, who returned to competition last March after a yearlong absence due to injury. The women’s chances of a big season stand to grow significantly if White shows the form that led her to a fourth place performance at the 2009 NCAA meet.

They return three of their top five runners from a year ago, including sophomore Chelsea Ley, junior Katherine Walker and sophomore Kathleen Stevens. Junior Barbara Strehler and White are expected to fill the void left by the departure of last season’s top performers, Anna Corrigan and Morgane Gay.

The arrangement with two separate head coaches for cross country has already paid dividends in preparation for the season, as Watson and Morgan have developed closer relationships with the athletes than they would be able to otherwise.

“Coaching the one team, being able to spend two-three hours with one group, I think has really benefitted everybody,” Watson said. “I know as a coach, it’s allowing me to be a little more productive with the guys’ team.”

The well established rapport also aided in tailoring summer training plans to each athlete. Watson said five or six of his runners topped 100 miles per week, and both coaches were generally pleased with the shape the athletes came back in.

“The group that we got showed up the first day here ready to run,” Morgan said. “I like our chances when we’re doing that.”

Watson will get a good look at his team Friday at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational with all but a couple of the top runners entered to compete.

Watson, on the other hand, elected to hold out his 12 fastest athletes to focus their attention on the first home meet Sept. 22. Though they may be itching to toe the line, the Cavaliers are confident they will be ready when the time comes and the results matter most.

“Coach makes it pretty simple,” Keveren said. “Just do exactly what he says. It’s not rocket science. Get out there, do the workouts and stay healthy.”

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