The Seattle University cross country team headed to Edinburg, Texas, Thursday in preparation for the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships taking place Saturday morning, Nov. 1.
In the pre-championship coach’s polls released Tuesday, the Seattle U women received three first place votes and tied Utah Valley for the top spot with 44 points, while the Redhawk men finished in second place in their poll with two first place votes and 30 points overall. However, Seattle U head cross country coach Trisha Steidl knows that the order of finish will depend solely on how everyone does Saturday.
“You don’t know what is going to happen on race day. You might have someone who has performed well all year who has a bad day, and you might have a couple of people who finally step up and exceed expectations,” said Steidl. “I respect all of the competition, and I know everyone is trying to be the best they can be. We are going into this meet confident in our training and knowing what we are capable of doing.”
Earlier this season, the Seattle U women earned a regional ranking, their first since reclassifying to Division I, after winning the Viking Cross Country Classic. Senior Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) won that race as well as the Emerald City Open, giving her the confidence and knowledge to race with the other top runners in the WAC.
“They should be ready to go. To be in the position where we should be vying for the win, we have to have confidence in everything we have done. I hope to see a lot of fight, a lot of heart, and a lot of grit,” continued Steidl. “Sophie needs to put herself in a position where she can challenge for the win. I don’t think it’s going to be a runaway race. I have talked with Sophie about wanting to win. You have to respect the competition and be humble, but you also have to be confident, and I know Sophie is a competitor who will fight for the win.”
Besides Curatilo, Steidl is looking for runners such as Taylor de Laveaga (Gilbert, Ariz.), Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.), Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.), and Emily Hedberg (Phoenix, Ariz.) to put themselves in the best positions possible to help the team. She also feels the other competitors for the Redhawks, Moira O’Connor Lenth (Seattle, Wash.), Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.), Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho), and Meghan Arigo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), will play a role in the team’s success.
“The reality is, in order to win, we need our top five to finish close together. My guess is we all need to finish in the top 12-14. Hopefully everyone is really fired up, and everybody has to be out there assuming they will score for the team. They need to push each other and put everything out there,” Steidl said.
As opposed to the experienced women’s team, the men’s team contains six competitors running in a collegiate conference meet for the first time: redshirt freshmen Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) and Louis Rodrigues (Alameda, Calif.) along with true freshmen Ben Monk (Olympia, Wash.), Joseph Nakao (Sammamish, Wash.), Matthew Seidel (Santa Clara, Calif.), and Chay Weaver (Louisville, Colo.). However, there is experience at the top with juniors Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.), Baxter Arguinchona (Spokane, Wash.), and Collin Overbay (Spokane, Wash.), and their leadership will be key for the Redhawks on Saturday.
“We believe we have the personnel to finish well this year, and we can’t build for the future if we don’t do well this year. The freshmen are a go-after-it group, they have been focused from day one, and that is what I wanted when I brought them in. To have freshmen in college be as focused as our guys is not common, and it certainly permeates through the rest of the team in a good way,” added Steidl.
The Seattle University cross country team last traveled to Edinburg, Texas, in 2010 for the Great West Conference Cross Country Championships, but that was held on a different course. This year’s conference meet will take place at the Palm View Golf Course in McAllen, Texas, with the runners traversing a loop.
The women’s five-kilometer race is scheduled to begin Saturday, Nov. 1, at 8 a.m. Central time (6 a.m. Pacific time), followed by the men’s eight-kilometer event at 9 a.m. local time (7 a.m. Pacific time). Updates during the morning will be posted on the Seattle U Athletics Twitter account (@su_athletics), with a full wrap-up posted on GoSeattleU.com as soon as possible after the results are official.