2017 Saluki Cross Country Season Preview

Photo by: Will Becque

08/18/2017 | 11:26:00 | Cross Country

2017 Cross Country Schedule 2017 SIU XC Roster

Second-year head coach Kevin Cataldo returns 13 runners from last year's squad.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Saluki cross country team will kick off the 2017 season on Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Golden Eagle Invitational, hosted by Tennessee Tech. SIU, under the direction of second-year head coach Kevin Cataldo, returns 13 runners (five men, eight women) from last year's team and has its sights set on not only betting its performance at the 2017 MVC Championships, but to also land individual bids to the NCAA Championships. The Salukis reported on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and held their first practice on Thursday, Aug. 17.

RUNNERS TO WATCH

Redshirt junior Josh Maier will help lead the Salukis after a strong sophomore season in which he earned All-MVC honorable mention recognition with a 13th place finish at the 2016 MVC Cross Country Championships. In all, the Alsip, Ill. native was SIU's No. 1 finisher at all six meets, including both the MVC Championships and the NCAA Regional. Maier also had an incredible outdoor track season, as he won his first conference title in the 5K and placed second in the 10K. Senior Jonathan Vara is also primed to be a consistent contributor at the front of the pack after a solid junior campaign in which he was SIU's No. 2 finisher at both the MVC Championships and the NCAA Regional.

Maier and Vara will be joined by senior Lucas Horton, who returns after an outdoor season that saw him place fourth in the 800m at the conference meet and advance to his first NCAA Regional meet. Sophomore Chris Edwards returns with a year of collegiate cross country under his belt, as does classmate Gavin Hartley.
Redshirt sophomore Cain Hassim is one of five newcomers. Hassim scored in the 3,000-meter steeplechase during the 2017 outdoor season and will be looked upon to push the pace and provide depth. Freshmen Michael Church, Jacob DeWitt, Canoy Tyree and Cain's brother, Theo Hassim, will all look to contribute right away.

On the women's side, redshirt sophomore Megan Krolak provided Southern with plenty of glimpses of her potential last year. At the Notre Dame Invitational, Krolak competed unattached and finished fourth in the open race, less than four seconds behind the winner from North Carolina State. During the indoor season, her 3,000-meter time of 10:02.95 at the Vanderbilt Invitational would have been the fourth-fastest time in school history.

Seniors Natalia Hajduk and Kelly O'Shea are two of SIU's top returners. Hajduk was SIU's top finisher at four of the five cross country meets she ran at last season while O'Shea clocked the sixth-best 3,000m steeplechase time in school history during this past outdoor track season.

Fellow seniors Shannon Effron, Claire Darnell and Hillary Merrill, as well as junior Sasha Lanning and sophomore Olivia Murphy, showed steady improvement throughout this past track season and will be looked upon to contribute and take on increased roles during the forthcoming cross country season. Senior Chrissa Harris will run cross country in the hopes of getting ready for the indoor track and field season after missing all of last season due to injury. Harris is one of four newcomers for the Saluki women, and is joined by junior transfer Amber Ruiz-Bueno, sophomore Luca Palasti, and freshman Sydney Spranger.

SCHEDULE

The Salukis will race in five regular season meets during the 2017 season. Southern's season begins at the Golden Eagle Invitational on Sept. 2, and follows with a trip to St. Louis for the Forest Park XC Festival on Sept. 8. SIU will then compete at a pair of meets hosted by Power 5 conference programs in the Vanderbilt Invitational (Sept. 16) and the Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 29) before concluding the 2017 regular season at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14, hosted by the University of Louisville. Last season, a total of 1,287 student-athletes from 130 schools competed at the esteemed meet, including 16 nationally ranked teams.

"All the big meets are in preparation for the MVC conference meet," said Cataldo. "We have a good conference, so if we are comfortable running in bigger fields we won't be as nervous to tackle the conference meet, which is typically a much smaller, more competitive field."

The Salukis will travel to Springfield, Mo. to race in the 2017 MVC Cross Country Championships, hosted by Missouri State, on Sat. Oct. 28. Southern will continue championship season at the NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Iowa State, on Nov. 10 in the hopes of qualifying several runners for the 2017 NCAA Championships, hosted by Louisville, on Nov. 18.