Last season Charlotte finished fourth on the women's side and ninth on men's side. |
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Niner Cross Country Team Ready to Kick 2008 Season into High Gear
Aug. 26, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - As the summer fades into fall, the fall sports season will be getting into full swing and one entity of that season is the Charlotte 49er Cross Country team.
Optimism is abounding as the 49er harriers prepare for another season of literally going over the river and through the woods in their attempt to take home Atlantic 10 conference gold.
Charlotte's women's squad returns everyone from last year's team which finished in fourth place at the conference meet in Philadelphia and they are expected by the conference coaches to make big strides in the upcoming season as they were recently chosen to be the A-10 runner-up this time around.
Anchoring the load will be rising senior Aja Jackson who was an all-conference selection a year ago. Jackson was victorious in the first four meets of the 2007 season as she ran her fastest time of the year at the Gamecock Invitational.
Jackson is a local product who according to Head Coach Brad Herbster has been working exceptionally hard over the summer.
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"Aja has worked hard over the summer and...we expect her to be up there competing for the conference crown this season as she competes individually at a very high level," said the 49er mentor.
The Charlotte native will get a huge boost from the rest of the women's team which boasts a talented class of sophomores including Kelsey Conroy, Amanda Goetschius, Laura McCary and Keara Thomas.
Conroy had a solid year in 2007, as she ran a personal best of 19:20 at the Eye Opener Meet in early September and was a top five runner on the team throughout the season. The sophomore had an outstanding outdoor track season as she ran a 17:42 in the 5K during the 2008 spring campaign.
Goetschius was the solid number two on the team last season, who came on strong at the end to be the team's top finisher at the A-10 championships in Philadelphia as she finished seventh overall and earned a spot on the all-conference unit.
Following cross country season, Goetschius also had a fine track season as she prepared to get back into full swing for the upcoming cross country campaign by running a 16:53 on the track in the 5K and also qualified for the Junior Nationals.
Thomas was the consistent number three runner last season as she was able to push Jackson and Goetschius and ran the finest race of her young career during her first meet as she crossed the finish line at the Gamecock Invitational with a time of 18:09 which was the third best time overall.
McCary had a good season a year ago as well as she held down the number four spot on the roster. Her best time of the 2007 season was an 18:35 at the Eye Opener Meet as she was the third finisher on a women's team who finished 1-4 at the meet. Coach Herbster said to expect big things from McCary as she was redshirted during the indoor season but has been training well as of late.
There also are three newcomers and a redshirt freshman on the women's side as Janet Barry, Emily Harris, Kristin Mitchell and redshirt freshman Jackie Ross come on board for the upcoming season.
Barry is expected to do well as she was a 5:10 miler in high school and continues to add mileage to her base to get her more prepared for the upcoming season.
Mitchell also has a history of fast track times in races of a similar distance to the 5K course as she ran times of 10:20 in the 3K and was an 11:23 two-miler.
With such a young squad on the women's side, Herbster feels that his team will only get better as they begin to better understand the nuances of the college season and adjust to intercollegiate sports with the training regimen and academic commitments involved
On the men's side it will be Chase Eckard returning to lead the way as he did all season long a year ago, but this year it wont be as lonely at the top for Eckard who will have a trio of runners to keep him company as the 49ers look to improve on their ninth place performance at the conference meet last year.
According to Herbster, Eckard is in the midst of the best summer training regimen he's ever had and the Redshirt Junior is excited to get back into the swing of things after taking a breather during the Outdoor Track season.
Eckard was victorious in two of the first three meets of the 2007 season as he ran his fast time of the season on the Eye Opener 8K course at the beginning of September.
While the redshirt junior will be looked upon to improve on his all-conference performance last season, a familiar face returns to the program with Adu Dentamo returning to the mix.
Dentamo comes off an outstanding outdoor track season that saw him run a school record time of 8:55 in the steeplechase and improve as the season progressed.
"Adu has run a lot of miles and has a great base under him, so we expect him to have a strong season," said Herbster of his Redshirt-Junior.
Another junior who is expected to contribute at a high level in the upcoming season is Alan Ford who was the solid number two runner a season ago.
Ford had a solid campaign last year and is expected to be a top five contributor again this season.
Dakota Lowery comes into the mix as a sophomore after he had an outstanding freshman campaign with the 49ers both on the cross country course and on the track
As a freshman, Lowery had what Herbster said was an "up and down season" but the 49er mentor sees Lowery having a much more consistent sophomore year as he is expected to be in the battle for a top four spot and has a much better base to work off of.
There are also a pair of newcomers to the men's squad as Tim Huwer and Will Taylor join the fray.
Huwer, who hails from Michigan, was clocked as a 4:20 miler during his high school days in the "Wolverine State," while Taylor is more of a natural 5K and 10K runner who comes to Charlotte with an extensive knowledge of the sport
Charlotte will play host to a pair of meets this season as they are scheduled to host the Bojangles Invitational on September 13 and will, for the first time in school history, host the Atlantic 10 Championships in November.
Herbster and the team feel excited to be able to run on their home course twice this year as they have worked out some of the kinks on the course and are eager to see the support from the 49er fan base.
"It worked out well last year, so we'll see how it all works this year, this is the first time with two home meets for us, we'll see how it goes," said the 49er guru.
Overall for both teams Herbster feels that the optimism, while being a good thing, is just the starting point.
"We just have to get out there and race hard...if we do what we need to do, I think we'll be very happy in the end," said the head man who enters his fifth season at the helm of the cross country team.
Charlotte travels to the Paul Short Invitational in early October, where they will get an early taste for many of the teams in the Atlantic 10 and Herbster feels that Paul Short will be a challenging meet for the squad.
Herbster expects La Salle and Richmond to be the favorites in the Atlantic 10, which Herbster says has gotten much more competitive since Charlotte's inception into the league.
The 49ers get their season started on August 29, when they travel to Boone, N.C. for the Appalachian State Meet.
