Aug. 27, 2008

Complete Cross Country Notes: Idaho State Dual

QUICKLY
Idaho State's cross country team is hosting the Idaho State Dual, its first meet of the season. ISU will be competing against Southern Utah and Utah Valley at the Centennial Course in Pocatello on Saturday, Aug. 30. The Bengals have been training since mid-August for the meet, and hope to find a mixture of newcomers and experienced veterans to fill out both lineups. Saturday's meet marks the beginning of Brian Janssen's 20th season at Idaho State and his 17th campaign as the head cross country coach.

QUOTE FROM THE COACH
"We're trying to get everyone some meet experience," Janssen said. "We've had two really good weeks of practice, but there are a lot of new people, especially on the men's side. We have no expectations on how to race against the other teams -- we're really just focused on ourselves."

MEN'S PRESEASON POLLS
The ISU men's squad was picked to finish seventh thanks to a mass departure from the 2007 team. Only four runners who competed in the inaugural dual on this same course in 2007 -- Aaron Wolfe, Eric Strand, Zach Barrett and Ryan Davis -- will run for ISU on Saturday, and only Wolfe finished among the Bengals' top seven. Wolfe and Strand eventually redshirted. Two of the Bengals' better finishers last season, junior John Ricardi and sophomore Taylor Hansen, will redshirt this season, leaving Barrett and Davis as ISU's only two experienced competitors.

WOMEN'S PRESEASON POLLS
Idaho State's women finished seventh in the Big Sky Conference Championships last season, and that's where the coaches have them picked to start this season, as well. The Bengals do return a wealth of experience, however, including Gemma Maini, who ran this 3K course in 10:53 at last year's opening dual against Southern Utah. Sophomore Erica Wendt also returns after posting the Bengals' best mark at the 2007 NCAA Mountain Region meet. Junior Kerynn Davis and sophomore Candida Butler-Rowen should also be improved this season.