Women's cross country places fifth at Regional

By Natalie Clericuzio     11/19/09 6:00pm

On a campus with a football team that boasts a single win this season, a soccer squad that did not quite live up to expectations and two basketball programs dying to bounce back from disheartening 2008-09 seasons, the women's cross country team, competitors at the national tournament over the past two seasons, had the athletic hopes of an entire university on their shoulders. However, with five upperclassmen out of the mix this season, those expectations fell on the shoulders of an extremely young team - one comprised entirely of underclassmen, save for a single fifth-year senior.

As such, while the team's fifth-place finish at the South Central Regional Meet last Saturday at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas, was not high enough to qualify the group for nationals, the performance was one of the most impressive it could have asked for. Not just because of the team's overachieving, but that the finish, while a step down from last year's second-place finish, still outdid the team's median placement over the past decade. Head Coach Jim Bevan said he is pleased with the season's outcome.

"On the one hand, we've been seeded fifth in region for some time and as this was a team where all seven runners have never run at regionals before, [we ran] a pretty good regional meet," Bevan said.

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That finish did not come easily for the Owls, however. Rice's top finisher at the Conference USA Championships, freshman Heather Olson, dealt with breathing issues throughout the race, a condition that likely prevented her from running her best race. Freshman Marie Walsh also ran the race with several blisters.

Southern Methodist University, which grabbed the C-USA championship Oct. 31, took first place, while Baylor University and the University of Arkansas took second and third place, respectively. The University of Texas finished in fourth place.

The Owls could not follow the race plan fully, which was to run an even-split meet with the first half coming just as quickly as the second. The team was still on course at the mile and at the 2,000-meter mark; however, between 2,000 and 3,000 meters, in a hillier section of the course, the group broke apart.

Even though the last half of the race did not adhere to the plan, the team managed to advance from eighth place to fifth over the last 3,000 meters.

Considering these issues, Bevan felt the team did not run at their full capabilities.

"We could have run better," the coach said. "We could have beaten Texas, but we would have had to be dead on, and we couldn't have finished any better than that."

Fifth-year senior Claire Shorall echoed Bevan's sentiment.

"We're not satisfied necessarily because Rice cross country holds itself to a very high standard," Shorall said. "But that being said, we had seven people who'd never been out there before, and we finished fifth-best of all teams in the region. When you stop to think about it, [racing against] all of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, that's pretty impressive."

Beating the Longhorns would have given the team a fourth-place finish, but this still would not have qualified the Owls for nationals, an honor reserved for just the top 31 teams. According to Bevan, Rice ended the season as a top-60 team.

Still, Rice's fifth-place was good enough to defeat the Southland Conference champions (sixth-place Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi), a Big 12 school (ninth-place Texas A&M University) and a Southeastern Conference school (21st-place Louisiana State University).

While the Owls may have not met their expectations, several individuals had standout races. Sophomore Halsey Fowler, 21st overall, and freshman Johanna Ohm, 26th overall, ran negative-split races, meaning they ran the last 3,000 meters faster than the first 3,000. Their speedy finishes were fast enough to give them both lifetime bests in the 6,000-meter distance.

Fowler also secured the second-fastest final 1,000 meters of the entire field.

"[Fowler's] finish is very promising and a good sign she is finishing strong, which bodes well for her future," Bevan said.

Fowler is just one example of the huge improvement the team has made across the board this season. Olson, despite her breathing problems, placed 38th overall. Sophomore Michaela Reynolds had what Bevan described as her best race of the season, finishing 47th. And Shorall, who placed 69th this weekend, deserves a large amount of credit for the way this team has developed this season, according to Bevan.

"[Claire] did a lot for her younger teammates," Bevan said. "She has been a leader of this group from last year during recruiting, over the summer and into this season.

"She was instrumental in their success, development and learning curve. She was never a great high school cross country runner, but she has been the strength behind this year's team."

For Shorall, the regional meet was a nice way to close out her cross country career but also helps her look forward to track season.

"Cross country is not as near and dear to my heart as track as far as competition goes, but it's so much more focused than track is for me because it's a group of people all striving for that same goal," Shorall said. "I'm going to miss not having that in my life anymore. We have it in track, but it's just not the same. . I would never replace the experience of being on this team for the last five years with anything."

Shorall's leadership has helped this squad of young runners develop tremendously, which bodes well for the team's future. Fowler expects next season to be one for the record books.

"Next year, I think we're going to do something that Rice cross country's never done before," Fowler said. "I think it's going to be really big and I think it's going to be really exciting.

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