Southern Illinoise University Athletics
New Beginning For Women's Cross Country in 2002
08/30/2002 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Aug. 30, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's cross country team is justifiably excited about kicking off the 2002 season Saturday at the Saluki Fast Start Open.
After a tumultuous 2001 season, that included the sudden resignation of head coach Don DeNoon, as well as injury and numbers problems, the Salukis will welcome the stability and knowledge of new head coach Matt Sparks.
SIU will return its top-two runners, and welcome seven newcomers this season, with hopes of improving on its eighth-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
Junior Noa Beitler and senior Katie Meehan will be expected to lead SIU, after the pair narrowly missed all-conference status a year ago. Despite not having the luxury of working with a full-time distance coach, Beitler finished 12th in the Valley, while Meehan was 18th.
"That's the exciting thing, because I look at what they did last year - basically training themselves - and they both were knocking on the door for all-conference,'' said Sparks. "I think that both of them should be in position to place in the top-10 of the MVC and be all-conference.''
Coming off a standout year in which she was named an MVC scholar athlete, Meehan will be the Salukis team captain this year.
"She has taken a real leadership role, getting the girls together to run outside of practice and coordinating team things,'' said Sparks. "She has been a real positive person for me as a coach to be around, helping me to get to know the girls on the team. She was also here this summer, so I got to know her before the other girls.''
The talented Beitler will miss the first two meets of the year, but should be back in time to compete in the big meets at the end of the season.
"She competed this summer back at home in Israel, and she is just starting to train again,'' said Sparks. "She is healthy, last spring in track she had some nagging injuries. We just don't want to rush her into racing. We want her to be fresh and running the conference meet, regional meet and hopefully the NCAA championship meet."
Behind Beitler and Meehan will be a competitive battle for the rest of the top-five positions.
The Salukis bring back experienced runners in senior Erin Simone and sophomore Erica Hall, while seniors Jodi Huddlestun and Laura Grafton will begin his first year with the cross country team. Other newcomers include Lindsey Campos (So.), Ty-Nica Davis (Fr.), Nicole Edgecomb (So.), Sheree Ledwell (So.), and Carrie Trimble (So.).
"Right now Erin, Jodi, Ty-Nica and Lindsey have been battling for the 3-5 spots,'' said Sparks.
Saturday's unscored season-opening meet, featuring Southeast Missouri State and Murray State, will kick off at 9 a.m. The meet is designed to be a warm-up, and should be a valuable gauge for what to expect this season.
"I'd just like to see what kind of competitors they are,'' said Sparks. "Practice is one thing, but once you get them in a race situation you get to see a lot of different personalities there. You get to see who the gamers are and see what we can expect in future competitions."
Sparks, a former standout at Indiana University, begins his first year at SIU after a two-year stint as an assistant at Ohio State and three years at his alma mater. Sparks is still getting to know his team, but feels that things are coming together.
"That's been the biggest chore during the last week of practice - me getting to know the athletes, and them trying to get to know me,'' said Sparks. "Now we are finally getting to the point where we can start to train and start to progress from there.''
