Cross Country Set for A-10 Championship
Oct. 24, 2007
On Your Mark: Saint Louis will look to punctuate a successful cross country season when the team travels to Philadelphia for the Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday. The men's 8K gets the event underway at 9 a.m. (CT), while the women's 5K begins at 9:45 a.m (CT). While this is the last team competition of the season, several student-athletes will participate in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Peoria, Ill., on Nov. 10. Last Time Out: Mary Moloney and Steve Vargas were Saint Louis' front-runners at the Bradley Cross Country Classic in Peoria, Ill., on Oct. 12. Moloney crossed the 6K finish line in 21:52 for a 16th-place finish, while Vargas posted a 25:22 mark to finish 17th overall. The women's squad finished ninth in the 17-team field, while the men were 12th out of 15 teams. Weekly Accolades: After breaking the 8K school record at the Brooks Memphis Twilight three weeks ago, senior Steve Vargas received the first weekly honor in men's cross country program history. In 2000, Aimee Walther garnered Conference USA Runner of the Week accolades, the lone weekly honor on the women's side. Polling Place: In a vote conducted by the league's head coaches earlier this week, the SLU women's squad bumped up into fifth-place in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference, while the men's team was elevated to an eighth-place ranking. Both rankings are an increase from the 10th-place ranking that the teams experienced at the beginning of the year. Down the Road: Several runners will then participate in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 11 in Peoria, Ill. Otherwise, the squad will begin preparations for the indoor track and field campaign, which kicks off Dec. 8 with a meet at Eastern Illinois University.
New Coach: The Billikens are in their first season under interim head coach Jon Bell. While this is his first head coaching assignment, Bell has spent time on coaching staffs at Utah Valley State, Emporia State and St. Mary's (Minn.) University. The Atlantic 10 Conference: Saint Louis is in its third season as a member of the A-10. Last season, the women claimed an eighth-place finish in the league, an improvement from their 12th-place finish in 2005. The men have finished 11th and 12th in the league championship the past two seasons. La Salle has won three-straight championships on the women's side and five of the last six titles on the men's side. The Explorers were picked by the league's head coaches to defend their titles in 2007. Front Runners: Vargas, Brian Holdmeyer and Mat Stuber encompass the top three on the men's 8K performance list this season. The trio posted the team's top times at the Brooks Memphis Twilight. Vargas crossed the line in a school-record 25:10.63, while Holdmeyer and Stuber finished in 25:54.11 and 25:56.65, respectively. All three of those times were personal bests. Leading the Pack: On the women's side, Laura Coyer and Moloney have combined to post the top four 5K times on the season performance list. Brigette Schutzmann and Laura Peabody round out the top 8. Youth is Served: Underclassmen Brian Holdmeyer and Neil Rodrigues both appear in the top 10 on SLU's men's performance list. Holdmeyer's 25:54.11 at the Brooks Memphis Twilight is the second fastest 8K time this season. Rodrigues has steadily improved all season, and culminated his regular-season with a PR of 26:26 at the Bradley Classic. Meanwhile, a trio of sophomores have posted top 10 times on the women's side. Schutzmann (18:55.11), Peabody (19:02.32) and Molly Burke (19:20.90) each appear on the 5K list courtesy of season-best times at the Brooks Memphis Twilight. Bell's Bits: "We are as prepared as we have ever been for the conference meet, and I'm excited to see what we do in Philadelphia. If we continue to compete like we have been, we should do fine. We need to stick to the race plan and continue to run intelligently. We want to finish better than what we were ranked in the preseason, and this is our chance to prove to the league that SLU is serious about cross country and track and field.." |
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