Cross Country Opens Season Friday at Covered Bridge Open
9/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 1, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's and women's cross country will compete in their first race of the season on Friday afternoon when they travel to Boone, N.C. Appalachian State plays host to the Covered Bridge Open, which will take place on the ASU State Farm Fields.
The women's 5k race is set to begin at 5 p.m., while the men's 8k race will begin at approximately 5:45 p.m. The course will mainly consist of grass and a pea gravel surface, but runners will also cross two different wooden bridges twice during the race.
Additional schools competing in the Covered Bridge Open include Appalachian State, Florida State, North Florida, East Carolina, ETSU, High Point, King College, Southern Indiana, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Shorter University, and Augusta State.
The meet marks the start of head coach John Millar's second season at the helm of the Demon Deacon program. Compared to his inaugural season in 2010, Millar has a much better idea of what to expect from his veteran returners.
"On the men's side, (Coach Hunt and I) really think that the guys are going to be improved over what they did last year," said Millar. "We're hoping someone like Tom Morrison or Alex Rose can step up and really contribute at the 10k distance, but it will be interesting to see. We have a good nucleus of guys."
Morrison raced in three meets for the Deacs last season, with his personal best time 8k time of 25:55.7 coming at the Charlotte Invitational. At last year's Covered Bridge Open, Morrison finished sixth on the team and 54th overall.
Friday's meet will mark Rose's first cross country race as a Demon Deacon, although he enjoyed stellar indoor and outdoor track seasons as a freshman last year.
Along with Morrison and Rose, a handful of seasoned veterans look to lead the men's squad throughout the season. Winston-Salem native Paul Loeser joins Morrison as the only other senior on the squad, and he looks to provide both experience and leadership to the team.
The Deacs also return a strong junior class, most notably Garret Drogosch, Tom Finneran, and Devin Huizenga. Drogosch raced in all six meets for the Deacs last season, while Finneran raced in five and recorded his season-best 8k time of 25:40.6 at the Charlotte Invitational.
Huizenga made tremendous strides last season, as he concluded the year with third-place team finishes in each of the final three meets. His personal-best 8k time of 25:08.6 was recorded at the ACC Championships.
On the women's side, Coach Millar and assistant coach Brad Hunt will look for sophomore Nicole Irving to follow up a strong freshman campaign with another successful season. Irving finished fourth out of 34 freshmen at the ACC Championships, and she was the only Wake Forest freshman to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regionals.
Irving shined in her career debut at last season's Covered Bridge Open, finishing first overall in an impressive 5k time of 17:45.07. The Ballston Lake, N.Y. native also finished first for the Deacs in the next meet, the Wake Forest / Duke Dual.
"We look at Nicole as someone who can hopefully continue from where she was last year and sustain it for the whole season," said Millar. "She's someone that we really feel good about."
Also expected to provide significant contributions to the Demon Deacon scoring total is sophomore Melanie Powers. The Orange County, Calif. native had a tremendous meet last season at the Covered Bridge Open, finishing fourth overall in a personal-best collegiate 5k time of 18:02.13.
"I think Melanie is another one that has that ability," remarked Millar. "She started out pretty well as a freshman last year, and this year she has more maturity and training."
Joining Powers and Irving is a strong group of upperclassmen, including senior Laura Rapp, junior Allison Homer, and red-shirt junior Casey Fowler. Homer proved a consistent runner last season, as she placed either second or third on the team in five of six meets.
Fowler raced in three meets last year, finishing in the top seven among Wake Forest runners in each meet. The Richmond, Va. native finished in a season-best 6k time of 22:54.2 at the ACC Championships.
The women's squad also welcomes a strong freshman class in Kaitlyn Oliver, Natalie Sukramani, and Aubrey Waggoner. Millar feels confident that the newcomers will have an immediate impact for the Deacs.
"On the women's side, we're counting on our freshmen to help us out," said Millar. "We certainly have high expectations of the freshmen, and we hope that they can start competing and contributing."
Following Friday's meet, the Deacs will take a weekend off before traveling to Clemson, S.C. for the Clemson Invitational.
Players Mentioned
