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Regional course favors Scots runners Release Date:
November 7, 2007
MONMOUTH, Ill. –
Monmouth College cross country coach Roger Haynes hopes his teams’
preparation, combined with a favorable course layout, will help his
men’s and women’s squads continue to move up the ladder on the
national scene during this Saturday’s NCAA regional meet in
Wisconsin.
The Scots harriers have exhibited good foot speed, something
Haynes says could play into their performance on the course at Lake
Breese Golf Course, located just north of Oshkosh, Wis.
"This should be good for us," reports Haynes. "We tend to have
reasonably fast foot speed, so it should be advantageous for our
frontrunners."
Among the frontrunners for the men are All-MWC runners
– senior Adam
Rodriguez, junior Damon Bautista and sophomores Clay Staley and Brad
Begyn. Although two of Staley’s top three 8K times were run over a
month ago, Haynes feels the sophomore’s comparative times would
indicate he is Monmouth’s best chance to advance as an individual.
Only the top seven runners, not members of an advancing team will
move on to the NCAA Championships the following weekend. The Scots
hope points from senior Seth Leitner, sophomore Matt Perharda and
freshman Derek Huff will help them reach their goal of improving on
their 14th place finish in 2006.
"We hope to be in the upper half of the field," said Haynes. "I
think we can do that."
Due to a combination of late injuries and illness, the women will
only be able to field a partial team of six runners. Paced by the
all-conference tandem of freshman Mary Kate Beyer and sophomore
Katie Staab, Haynes is hopeful sophomores Amy Aghababian, Jayme
Ayers and Briana Flynn and freshman Whitney Didier will be able to
run well at the meet he describes as the culmination of all their
efforts.
"We want to represent ourselves (well) in a culminating meet and
learn from that experience," reports Haynes, whose women’s squad
finished 25th a year ago.
Haynes is confident the team’s light meet schedule will be an
advantage for his squad. The Scots had a few minor injuries, but
should be healthy for the weekend meet. He says a training glitch
prior to the conference meet may have had a negative effect then,
but he is confident all the pieces are in place for the regional
meet.
Monmouth has not had a runner compete at the national event since
Zach Barr’s All-American 26th place finish in 2004.
Men's Cross Country |
Women's Cross Country
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