2001 Season Preview
7/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
July 24, 2001
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest University Men's Cross Country team begins the 2001 season with a renewed sense of vigor as second year head coach Gary Sievers returns his top runners from a team last year that finished fourth at the ACC Championships, fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regionals and 18th at the NCAA Championships. This group of Demon Deacons has a special combination of experience and talent that could really do some damage this season.
"I am very excited about the upcoming season," said Sievers. "We lost our MVP Josh Buffolino to graduation, but we have our top three runners returning for their senior season and six of our top seven are back. Plus we have a group of six talented freshmen ready to begin their career here at Wake Forest."
With the personnel Sievers has available, he has set lofty goals for Wake Forest's harriers, goals the Demon Deacons feel are within reach.
"Our goals for this season are pretty high," said Sievers. "We hope to contend for the ACC title, gain an automatic berth to nationals (Wake Forest received an at-large berth last year) and to improve on our 18th place at nationals. Last year at the NCAA Championships we were in 12th place after our top four finished, so if we can get a fifth runner up there we could do very well this year."
Perhaps even a better question than whether or not the Demon Deacons can reach their potential this year, is when they will reach their potential this year.
"Only time will tell how good this group can be," said Sievers. "On paper they have tremendous potential. If we can keep everyone healthy and injury free, this group can make an impact on the national stage. Again, peaking at the right time will be critical to our success."
If the team does peak at the right time, it will be near the end of an extremely challenging season. Wake Forest hosts Georgetown (ranked sixth in 2000 final rankings) and North Carolina at the Wake Forest Invitational Sept. 16 and will then face some of top programs in the country two weeks in a row at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota and the pre-National meet in South Carolina.
"I like our schedule," said Sievers. "As in the past, we will train very hard through our first two meets in preparation for the championship season. In our sport, the ranking and point system used to qualify teams to nationals, along with the regional championships, does not begin until our meet in Minnesota. So we will focus on training and being fit and ready to compete starting with that meet. From that meet forward our schedule is very tough with nothing but nationally ranked teams competing. Our home meet is a great opportunity to compete here at home, to let the home folks see us and to allow some of our developmental athletes to compete along side our top runners to gauge their progress in competition. We will be running on the national course three times, counting nationals, so our runners should be very familiar with the course by season's end."
Providing the fuel for the team is the next wave of distance runners in the Demon Deacon program. While many may not compete in their first season at Wake Forest, they will be pushing their teammates everyday in practice and preparing themselves for when they are called upon.
"We have a very talented group of freshman coming in this fall," said Sievers. "With such a great group of returning runners it will allow us to bring the freshman and not rush them into action if they are not ready. In high school the race length is 5K while in college the course length is 8K up until Region and National when the course grows to 10K. It usually takes some time for the freshmen to adjust both mentally and physically to the increase in distance. We are committed to competing our top runners, so if any of the freshmen are in that group, then they will compete this year. If not, then they will redshirt and build for the future."
Leading the team this year will be seniors Garick Hill, Ted DeVos and Chris Estwanik. These seasoned veterans have already collected their fair share of ACC honors and school records, but this trio of Demon Deacons is far from satisfied as they enter their final season in the old gold and black.
"As with any collegiate sport, veteran athletes help tremendously in achieving your goals and we have that in Garick Hill, Ted DeVos, and Chris Estwanik," said Sievers. "Garick was All-Region last year in cross country and won the 10K at the conference meet last spring. Ted was All-ACC in cross country last year and scored in both 10K & 5K last spring at the conference championships. Chris was our top finisher at nationals last year, while also earning All-Region honors in cross country. Chris also anchored our Distance Medley Relay to both indoor and outdoor school records, while also qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships. That is not a bad group to start their final season here at Wake Forest with. Last year was their first trip to nationals here and they are very hungry to return to the Big Dance and improve upon their finish from last year and establish their legacy at Wake Forest University."
