West Virginia University women opened their Cross Country season on Friday in Morgantown with a perfect score against some strong in State NCAA Division II Schools.
Here is a copy of the West Virginia Preview provided by the athletic department.
Ready to Run
By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com
August 30, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- The West Virginia University cross-county team is set begin year two of a transition process that coach Sean Cleary hopes will return his team to its form of two years ago when the program was at the apex of its history.
Nicole Lemal is one of the few experienced runners on this year\'s team.
Cheryl Treworgy photo
After a disappointing 2005 season in which the Mountaineers relied on many inexperienced runners, Cleary is excited to get the 2006 season underway. Despite the experience gained last year, the team will remain very young, with the composition of the team being made up mostly of either redshirt or true freshmen. Cleary divides his roster into three parts.
The veterans of the team include sophomore Alison Spiker, and juniors Nicole Dorinzi, Nicole Lemal and Maria Stover.
"Those four girls have been around a little while and I guess we could call them our veterans. These girls have been here through the success we had two years ago when our program was the best it has ever been. They were young walk-on runners at that point," Cleary said.
The coach cautions that despite being sophomores and juniors, this group is still somewhat inexperienced.
"Really this is primarily their sophomore-eligible year because they all redshirted the year we won regionals. So they kind of just got experience watching and training. All four of those girls did a great job of training and developed wonderfully on the track last spring. We are expecting their best year of running yet," Cleary said.
The next segment of the roster includes a group of women that redshirted last year when they came in as freshman. This group includes Katie Burda, Kerry Davis and Karly Hamric.
"All of these girls saw some action in track. They had a great training year and again they did very well in summer training. The key for us as a program is how hard you work in the summer. Most sports are like that but these girls have to start racing the second week of school so they need to be ready," Cleary said.
The one girl out of the redshirt freshmen class that Cleary is expecting big things out of this fall is Clara Grandt.
"She came in with a stress fracture that occurred her senior year in high school. We didn't get her training properly until January of last year at which point we redshirted her indoors and outdoors. She has just improved tremendously over that time span and she is definitely going to be one of the leaders of this program for years to come," Cleary said.
The third segment of the roster includes four true freshmen along with sophomore Wake Forest transfer Mandy McBean. Cleary expects big things from this group of women.
"This is a very talented class of kids," he said. "They are really going to shake things up in our roster and our order. A lot of them are going to get starting positions this year."
A native of Scarborough, Ontario, McBean brings a lot of international running experience to the program and will look to be a team leader this year. Unfortunately she is still overcoming an injury sustained during her spring season at Wake Forest last year.
"It's unknown whether or not we are going to run her and race her at this point. Her credentials are very similar to those that Megan Metcalfe came in with. She is actually at that exact level. She's a fantastic addition for us," Cleary said.
Maria Dalzot is one of a group of true freshmen that Cleary is high on for this season. The Morgantown, W.Va., native was the 3,200-meter West Virginia state champion in 2005.
Keri Bland, a native of Fairview, W.Va., is another true freshman that comes in with excellent credentials. She was the AAA state cross-country champion in 2005.
Two more true freshmen, Pennsboro, W.Va., native Jamie Cokely and Sarnia, Ontario, native Mary Louise Asselin, will also look to contribute this year.
Cleary contends that this year will be the second season in a building process that he hopes will get the Mountaineers back to the national level next year.
"The motto of this team right now is to absolutely be far better than we were a year ago. We want to use this entire year as a stepping stone so that next year we can get back to the NCAAs," Cleary said.
To be better than they were last year the team will have to fill the void left by former NCAA national qualifier Susan Davis. Davis was the leader of the 2005 squad as well as an all-BIG EAST performer. Cleary says that he is not looking to one single person but rather to the team as a whole to pick up the slack left by Davis' departure.
"It's definitely going to be a collective effort trying to replace Susan. A couple of young ladies have showed as much ability as Susan did so we have a couple that might get to that level in a few years, but for this year it will definitely be the whole team collectively trying to replace her," Cleary said.
Cleary explained that in cross-country more than in most other sports, the timing of when you are competing at your best is critical to individual and team success.
"In this sport it is truly a timing thing of getting on a great roll at the right time of the year. In cross-country you could basically be average for three quarters of the season and turn in a stellar season and only be remembered for the great moments. One great day can create everything," Cleary said.
The Mountaineers will open the season with a home meet on Friday evening, followed by four consecutive trips to the state of Pennsylvania for meets in Bethlehem, Lock Haven and State College. WVU will then have one final tune up at the Golden Flash Invitational in Kent, Ohio, before traveling to Boston, Mass., for the BIG EAST Championships on October 27.