2001 Women's Cross Country Preview
7/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
July 16, 2001
The third-place finish by the Falcon women in the 2000 Mountain West Conference championships was their second straight top three finish and 2001 should bring more of the same. The Falcons finished in the top 10 (ninth) in the Mountain Region for the first time and are poised to challenge for a top five region finish.
"BYU will win the conference again, that's a given, however, we plan to challenge CSU for second," stated coach Mark Stanforth in outlining the goals for the 2001 season. He continued, "We can also move up in the region and we plan to challenge for an NCAA berth soon."
The Returnees:
The 2001 Falcons return eight of the top nine from the 2000 team, everyone except team leader Jaime Flood. Cadets first class (Sr.) Lara Coppinger, team captain, and Sara Kinney will provide the leadership for a team whose nucleus is a group of two second class cadets, (Jr.) Elissa Ballas and Tracy Denaro, and six third class cadets, (So.) Jean Taylor, Brandess Pardue, Kelly McPherson, Stephanie Cornell, Anne Chumlea and Shannon Weber.
"All of our younger athletes gained valuable experience last year, and, assuming they worked hard over the summer, should show significant improvement," commented Stanforth when asked to justify his optimism for the 2001 season. "We've reached the level where we expect to be in the top three in the conference. The next step is to become more competitive in the region."
Taylor, Ballas, Chumlea, Pardue, Denaro and McPherson finished within 35 seconds of each other in the MWC meet a year ago and all six finished in the top 35 competitors in that meet. A year of work and improvement should move the whole group close to the front and into a position to challenge CSU for second.
The Newcomers:
Two California recruits, Cindy Dawson from Yreka, and Sarah Rettmann from Mission Viejo, will join the Falcons this year. Dawson, a 2:17 800-meter runner, and Rettmann with bests of 5:12 in the 1,600 meters and 11:20 in the 3,200 meters, will fit right into the team and should provide additional depth for the Falcons in their quest for continued improvement.
