Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Cross Country Opens Season Friday
09/02/2004 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Sept. 2, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University's cross country team opens its 2004 season Friday when it hosts the Saluki Open. The women run a 4K race at 5 p.m., while the men follow with a 6K run at 5:30 p.m.
Ohio Valley Conference members SE Missouri State and Murray State join the Salukis at the small, three-team meet, which will go un-scored as far as team results are concerned.
SIU cross country coach Matt Sparks sees tomorrow's meet as a good preseason test for his squad.
"We won't be keeping score, we'll be running shorter distances and we will be without some of our top runners, so tomorrow should give me a good idea of who fits in where on the team," said Sparks.
On the women's side, the Salukis will be without Cherylynn Schilling, Sarah Rinker and Brittany Whitelock. Schilling and Rinker competed up until early June and did not start training for cross country until late July. Although healthy, they're simply not ready to go from a training standpoint. As for Whitelock, she will sit out due to injury.
Meanwhile, Eli Baker is out for the men. His situation is opposite of Schilling and Rinker. He's trained so much that he needs a break.
Since the Dawgs won't be at full strength, Sparks will have to alter his strategy.
"On both sides, we'll be doing a lot of different team racing tactics," explained Sparks. "Running as a group and helping each other is a big thing in cross country, so we'll be holding back our traditional front-runners and asking them to help some of the younger people on the team."
"For example, Noa Beitler will probably not win the race, because she'll be running with freshman Shelby Brice to help her," he continued. "Brittani Christensen and Jessica Ordway will also be expected to hold back early, and work with the underclassmen."
While Sparks plans on using this game plan for the first 2K of the women's race, the men will be asked to do the same for two kilometers of their run.
"Tony LaChiana and Joe Byrne have run well this fall, but we're going to ask them to hold back at least 2 to 4K to help the younger guys along. Then, for the remainder, let them stretch they're legs out and see if they can catch somebody in front of them."
In 2003, the SIU men started strong, but struggled toward the end of the season, while the women started slow, but finished strong.
Sparks wants to make it so both his squads finish the year strong, which is another reason why the Salukis are being cautious.
"Sometimes if you come out really strong, it's hard to maintain that as the season progresses, so we're really focusing on the end of the year," said Sparks. "We've been in situations in the past, where we've run well in September, but struggled in October, where things seem to be more important."
