August 31, 2010

Men's Cross Country Season Outlook

The 2010 Maryville University Cross Country team under third-year head coach Micky Kaufman, features the largest roster in program history. "The year before my arrival, the rosters had a combined four runners which we've increased to 22 and our freshmen class is the best Maryville has ever seen," said Kaufman.

The roster features six newcomers and six returners. "In our time trial, three of the newcomers finished faster than the top finisher last season," stated Kaufman. "Travis Blalock looks like he'll be the top runner for us this season.

"Zach Boyle and Adam Arveson finished closely behind Travis and both ran extremely well," continued Kaufman. "Zach tied his personal record in the time trial and Adam Schwerdt came close to tying his."

According to Kaufman, the key to a successful program is having returners put in the necessary off-season work so that the team can pick up where it left off last fall.

"The freshmen came into pre-season in great shape, as did the returners," said Kaufman. "John Mayer, who ran middle-distance for us in track last season is looking good and got some good work in over the summer. Phil Ward, who will serve as our team captain, has done a great job of being a team leader. Justin Halley got some good training in and Casey Humphrey finished the time trail 15 seconds faster than last year."

The Saints want to fare better at the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) meet this year. "We should be able to make a huge jump in the standings this year as we have true distance runners on our squad," said Kaufman. "The top seven runners will most likely be comprised of freshmen and sophomores."

Maryville's home meet returns to campus as a cross country course has been added to campus. "(Having a course on campus) gives us a lot more campus visibility and viability in the community," said Kaufman. "We're going to be able to run a home meet on our campus, something that appeals to recruits and returners, which is a nice thing to have. It's going to be a tough course, probably the toughest course we'll see all season but I know the kids are looking forward to it.

"With the new course and the new facilities, we'll have the ability to do more training on campus with the addition of the wood chip trails," he continued. "We've done a lot of our interval training around soccer fields, but know it gives us a chance to work on trails as well and makes us more versatile in our training."

The Saints open their season at Washington University's meet on Saturday, Sept. 4.

Contact: KatieJo Kuhens, SID

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