2012 CROSS COUNTRY GUide - MSJ Lions Athletics

2012 ScheduleDate Opponent location Time8/31 College of Mount St. Joseph Invitational heritage Park, Cincinnati, OH 6:00PM9/8 Hanover College Invitational Madison, IN 10:00AM9/29 All-Ohio Championships (Cedarville University) Cedarville, OH 2:00PM10/6 Gibson Family Pre-National Meet (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) Terre Haute, IN 12:00PM10/12 Wilmington College Classic Wilmington, OH 4:30PM10/27 HCAC Championship (Bluffton University) Bluffton, OH 11:00AM11/10 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional (Anderson University) Anderson, IN 11:00AM11/17 NCAA Division III National Championship (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) Terre Haute, IN 11:00AMHome meets in bold.2012 Season OutlookThe 2012 Lions’ women’s cross country team looks to improve on theirperformance from the 2011 season. The improvement process will beginon August 31st with the College of Mount St. Joseph Invitational. Thisis the second year in a row that the Lions have hosted their home meetat Heritage Park in Cincinnati. Second-year Head Coach Tina Blakleyknows how much goes into hosting a meet.“It’s something that needs to be planned for about a year inadvance, and it’s a lot of extra work, but we are excited to do it to helpgrow the College of Mount St. Joseph Cross Country brand,’’ Blakleystates. “We believe that if we continue to host this meet it will growinto a significant meet in the years to come.”The Lions have four runners returning from the previous season. Thelone senior will be, Cyreesa Raber, and three juniors, Kelleen Scott,Bailey Schnurr and Emily Heyl, along with one sophomore, EmilyWohlfrom. Newcomers to the team are freshman, Amanda Shelby andCarly Ruwan.Coach Blakley is confident that the more experienced runners on theteam will help teach the newcomers what it takes to compete at thecollegiate level and how to balance academics with athletics.“Hopefully this is a process that will continue into the future so wewill always have strong peer leadership,’’ Blakley states.“We believe Amanda (Shelby) can join this program and runcompetitively at the collegiate level immediately,’’ Blakley says. “As shecontinues to expand on her running abilities, I believe she will becomeone of the top three runners in the HCAC by the completion of herfreshman season.”The Mount is scheduled to compete in eight meets this upcomingyear. Coach Blakley is particularly excited about a few of these meets.“I always look forward to the All-Ohio meet for the level ofcompetition,’’ Blakley states. “It’s a great experience for us to runagainst teams from all over Ohio. Another top meet this season ishosted by one of our conference schools, Rose-Hulman. Since they willbe hosting the NCAA Division III Nationals in November, they will alsohost a Pre-Nationals meet held on Saturday, October 6th and our teamwill be competing in that meet with colleges from all over the UnitedStates.”The Lions will also race in the HCAC Championships on Oct. 27 atBluffton University.“Our most important meet is the HCAC Championships,’’ Blakley adds.“Our main goal is to improve our performance by scoring more pointsSarah Kennedy ran in all seven meets for the Lions last fall.so we can finish in the top seven. Our other main goal as a team is tomaintain a 3.0 or higher overall GPA. Academics are a priority and wewant them to do their best academically as well as athletically.”Blakley believes in the strength of her team and their work ethic.She encourages her athletes to cross train during the off season and tobuild a strong endurance base during the pre-season. She is adamantabout the athletes following strength and conditioning program,making good nutritional choices and allowing themselves adequate timefor recovery.”The Mount’s season begins on August 31 and the Lions will look tobegin with a strong performance in their home meet that they can carrywith them throughout the year.2012 CROSS COUNTRY GUIDE 19