Women's Cross Country 11/6/2009 8:30:00 AM VMIKeydets.com

The Cross Country Chronicles-Volume 2

The Cross Country Chronicles is in its second year at VMIKeydets.com, as head cross country coach Paul Spangler contributes a blog chronicling the 2009 season.

Coach Spangler's Bio

The Cross Country Chronicles-Volume 1

Part 6 - (November 6)

What a great championship race for the women! Hannah Granger winning and being named Big South Runner of the Year, Jenna Moye placing 4th and being named Big South Freshmen of the Year and the team placing 2nd, highest finish in the program history! I could not be prouder of our women!

The women's race unfolded about how I thought it would, there was a pack of 10-12 runners up front through the 1.5 mile mark. Hannah threw in a monster surge on the first hill and nobody could go with her. She took command of the race and never looked back winning in 18:25 for a hilly and wet 5k. Freshman Jenna Moye responded to the surge by Liberty's #1 and #2 finishing just 2 seconds out of 3rd place running 18:39 5k on a very hilly course.

Our #3 and #4 runners, Leah Schubel (19:34) and Lindsey Carty (19:41) also ran outstanding races. All year we have been able to count on Lindsey for a solid race and this time she did not disappoint. Leah stepped it up with it counted after having an off race two weeks earlier. Both Leah and Lindsey finished in the top 20. Jenna Pickett is also coming around and was our solid #6 runner. Corinne, who ran great two weeks earlier, had an off race due to being sick. What is remarkable is that four of our top five runners are freshmen! The future looks even brighter for the VMI women's cross country team down the road.

1st           Hannah Granger               Jr             18:25     Big South Runner of the Year
4th           Jenna Moye                   Fr              18:39     Big South Freshman of the Year (1st freshmen overall)
16th          Leah Schubel                 Fr             19:34     4th overall freshman in the race
18th          Lindsey Carty                Fr              19:41     5th overall freshman in the race
28th          Corinne Lariviere            Fr             20:11
31st          Jenna Pickett                So             20:20

Next week we head the Louisville, Kentucky for the NCAA Southeast Regional XC Championships. I think our best race is still to come. I am excited to see what our top girls can run in a highly competitive race and both Corinne and Jenna I feel are ready for a breakthrough performance. With a solid race by our #1-#5 runners I feel we can finish in the top 15 as a team which would be a remarkable accomplishment with such a young team.

Overall the men did not race as I had hoped. Our #1,#2 and #3 runners had an off weekend. The men finished 4th as a team which is not the result we had envisioned earlier in the year. That being said, Liberty, Coastal, and High Point ran outstanding races and looking back, even with good performances from our #1-#3, those teams would have still been hard to beat. As with the women, the men are very young with three freshmen in our top five last weekend.

Part 5 - (October 7)

Both the men and women had a successful weekend at the Paul Short Cross Country invitational in Lehigh, PA. The Paul Short Invitational is regarded as one of the top meets in the east coast with over 120 universities attending with many nationally ranked teams and individuals.

For the women, I don't think we could have run much better than we did. Hannah Granger ran 21:18 for 6k which eclipsed her 6k school record by 38 seconds. Freshmen Jenna Moye also had an outstanding race running 21:59 for 6k which was just a few seconds off Hannah's record. The most impressive stat of the weekend was that four of the five girls ran personal best for 5k in route to 6k. In other words, their 5k split was faster than their previous 5k personal best.

                                      6k time                 Pace                   5k Split                  Previous 5k XC Personal Best
Hannah Granger                21:18                  5:43/mile             17:52                     18:26                     -34
Jenna Moye                       21:49                 5:53/mile             18:23                     18:36                     -13
Leah Schubel                     22:45                 6:06/mile             19:03                     19:49                     -46
Lindsey Carty                     23:25                 6:17/mile             19:33                     20:08                     -35

I am very pleased with the performances of all the ladies this year. Long term I had hoped Jenna Moye, as a sophomore, would be as good as Hannah Granger was as a freshmen. Jenna's performances are showing that she, as a freshmen, is as good as Hannah was as a sophomore!

Team wise, we had a successful meet defeating defending Big South Champion Coastal Carolina and just being edged out by West Point by a handful of points. We have yet to race a full strength as Jenna Picket, our #3 runner two weeks earlier, sat out the meet due to an injury. I am hopeful that she will be ready to race at Appalachian State next Friday.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season and the Big South Championships, it will undoubtedly be a exciting championship meet with Coastal Carolina, High Point, Liberty, Winthrop and VMI all taking aim at the women's team title. All those teams are very talented and well coached and I expect them to come ready to race. The team that brings home a team trophy, 1st or 2nd, will be the team that avoids injury and illness over the next three weeks and prepares the best for the championships.

I was very pleased with the performance of the freshmen men at Paul Short. Booth Hornsby, Ian McGinn and Chris Wunch all ran a 5k personal best enroute to 8k. For senior Matt Sagar, he ran over a minute faster than last year on the same course (26:40 in 2008 to 25:32 in 2009) and sophomore Noah Hagos (26:58 in 2008 to 25:51 in 2009). We did not run Felix Kitur and Matt Satterwhite due to injury and chose to sit out our #1 runner Andrey Dmitriev. The team result was not indicative of what we're capable of and I am hopeful we will be at full strength next Friday when we compete at Appalachian State.

We will need to be 100% and ready to race if we're going to accomplish our goal of top two at the Big South Championships. Coastal Carolina showed this weekend that they are much improved and will be a team to looking to bring home a team trophy in three weeks. High Point and Liberty have the same goal in mind making four teams fighting it out for two trophies.

The Paul Short Invitational also saw the unveiling of the new “All-Black” racing uniforms. See pictures above.

Part 4 - (September 22)

This weekend the men and women competed at the Big South Preview Invitational at High Point University. It gave our men and women a good gauge as were we stand when compared to the other teams in the Big South Conference. It also gave us a chance to run on the same course we will run in six weeks at the Big South Conference Championships.

The women solidified themselves this weekend as one of the top teams in the Big South Conference. I can honestly say that many of the teams did not account for us before the race but that certainly changed when the results were posted. The women narrowly placed 2nd behind last year's Big South runner-up Liberty University. I particularly thought Hannah Granger, Jenna Moye and Lindsey Carty stepped it up. Hannah took control halfway into the race and came away with the individual title.

Freshman Jenna Moye solidified herself as one of the top freshmen in the conference with her 4th place. Jenna is as good as Hannah was her sophomore year which is pretty scary when you think about everything that Hannah has accomplished at VMI. Freshman Lindsey Carty ran a personal best on what I considered was a slow course. To run a personal best in your first races on a slow course shows that her summer training is paying off. I feel really good about the women's team as we head into the 2nd half of the season. We feel we can run significantly better as a team with the addition of Corinne Lariviere (sick) and an overall improvement in our racing strategy. It will make for an exciting Big South Championship meet with Coastal Carolina, Liberty, High Point and VMI all fighting for the team title.

The men's team came away with a team victory narrowly defeating Liberty University (NCAA Regionally ranked #6) by 16 points and High Point University by 23 points. I was particularly impressed with the individual performances of freshman Andrey Dmitriev, 3rd place, freshman Booth Hornsby, 10th place, and sophomore Noah Hagos, 9th place. I thought those three runners particularly stepped it up and ran well when needed. Andrey and Booth have solidified themselves as two of the top freshmen in the Big South with their performances on Saturday.

Many of the teams contending for the conference championship team title in October were not at full strength. Both High Point and Liberty did not compete all of their runners nor did VMI. Scoring the meet with all the teams at full strength, and adding Coastal Carolina to the mix, and I think you'd have a better chance of predicting the winner with a coin toss. Should make for a nervous and exciting championship meet come Oct 31st.

This weekend we're off and next weekend we head to Lehigh University to compete at the Paul Short Invitational, regarded as one of the top invitationals on the east coast.

Part 3 - (September 16)

This weekend, the team embarked on our 140 mile Blue Ridge Relay. The weather was outstanding as was the training up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The relay started on Friday at VMI, covered the first 50 miles, ending at the Peaks of Otter Campground located at 3000ft above sea level. Friday night the team camped out under the stars. On Saturday the relay started off at 6am heading south along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On Saturday we covered the last 90 miles and concluded the relay at the Doe Run Lodge and Resort where we stayed the night.

Training this week has been outstanding for the women's team.

On Monday we ran 6x1k on the trails located in the Washington and Lee woods located directly behind VMI. Compared to last year's times on the same workout, our #6 runner this year is as good as our #2 runner last year! It would be an understatement to say I am not excited for this year's team. With 5 freshmen, 1 sophomore and 1 junior in our top 7, the future is only looking good for VMI women's cross country.

For the men, most of them ran 8x1k on in the Washington and Lee woods. Andrey Dmitriev “Big Mig” and Matt Sagar looked outstanding as did Noah Hagos. We're a little banged up on the men's side with two of our top seven sitting out the workout due to injury and most likely will not race this weekend. Once we get these two runners healthy, we should be ready to take aim at our goal of top 2 at the Big South Championships and top 15 at the NCAA Regional Championships which will be contested on Oct 31st and Nov 14th.

This weekend the men and women travel to High Point University for the Big South Preview Invitational. This is an opportunity for the men and women to race on the same course they will see for the Big South Championships on Oct 31st. For the men it is an opportunity to see how we measure up against Liberty and High Point, the preseason #1 and #2 in the conference. For the women the same holds true, we will get a chance to complete against Liberty and High Point, the preseason #2 and #3 in the Big South. Check back on Saturday for results at www.vmikeydets.com.

Part 2 - (September 11)

Sorry for the delay in keeping up with the Cross Country Chronicles. With matriculation week, preseason training camp, our home cross country opener and this weekend's Blue Ridge Relay, it has been pretty hectic around the office.

Our home cross country opener was a success. The women did an outstanding job in coming away with a first place finish and we did so at less than 100%. Corinne Larivere, who is our #3-#4 was sick and sat out the race. I have never been more excited for my women's team during my time at VMI than I am this year. Yes we're young, but we are also talented. All the ladies did a phenomenal job training this summer and have come into the season ready to roll. Barring any unforeseen injuries, the season looks very bright for the women.

The men had a successful opener with Ermin Mujezinovic and Andrey Dmitriev posting the 2^nd fastest time of the day. Andrey is the real deal and will be a force in the Big South and hopefully the NCAA scene for years to come. We have some work to do in our #3-#5 spots if we're going to accomplish our goal of top two as a team. Felix has looked great this week in practice as to has Matt Sagar and Noah Hagos. I am optimistic that they will step it up come the conference championships at the end of October.

Starting today is our annual Blue Ridge Relay. It is a 140-mile team relay on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tonight we camp out at The Peaks of Otter and tomorrow we'll be staying at the Doe Run Lodge and Resort. It is a great opportunity for the team to bond in addition to logging some quality miles up in the mountains close to 5000 ft.

Part I - (July 21)

This is my first installment of the cross country chronicles for the upcoming 2009 season. I am just now catching up on work neglected after traveling to the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas and the USA Championships in Eugene, Oregon with Donnie Cowart. Two weeks traveling all over the USA was fun but I am glad to be back at VMI. With all the traveling, I joked with Donnie after the USA Championships that is was a good thing he did not qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany in August. Donnie had an outstanding senior season, capturing two school records (4:04-mile & 8:44-3000m steeplechase), All-American honors at the NCAA Championships and Big South Track Athlete of the Year to name a few. He has done a tremendous amount for VMI, the track team, and future recruiting. His leadership and team points will be certainly missed. Donnie, however, won't be far from VMI, as he will be joining the Ragged Mountain Racing Team located in Charlottesville, Va. (http://raggedmountainracing.org). There Donnie will train with other post-collegiate athletes with plans to return to the USA Championships and certainly the 2012 USA Olympic Trials. He still plans to come back and help us out as a volunteer coach and possibly jump in a few workouts from time to time.

The start of summer brings the start of the VMI Summer Transition Program for incoming freshmen. STP, as it's called, is an opportunity for incoming freshmen to attend VMI over the summer and take one college course. It is a great opportunity for freshmen to get ahead before beginning the famed VMI Ratline in August. This summer, I have 11 freshman distance runners attending STP (7 men and 4 women). Not only is it a great opportunity for them to get ahead academically, but also a great opportunity to train with each other on the trails and hills that surround Lexington, in addition to having access to the weight room and sports medicine training room at VMI.

I am very excited for the fall cross country season. The 2008 season was a great year for the women as they came away from the Big South Championships with a 4th place team finish, the highest finish in the program's history. This year's freshmen class is the largest and most talented recruiting class in the history of the program. With the leadership of Hannah Granger (6th in Big South '08), Jenna Pickett and Carrie Wortham, our women's team will be a force in the Big South Conference for years to come.

The men came away from the 2008 Big South Championships with a 3rd place finish. We add the team's top runner in 2007, Felix Kitur, who redshirted 2008, and the majority of our top 7 runners from that year. We graduated Donnie Cowart, an All-American in track, but should be able to replace him with Felix and incoming freshman Andrey Dmitriev, who comes to VMI with a high school personal best of 3:45 for 1500m (4:02 mile).

Check back to www.vmikeydets.com from time to time this summer as I continue to post updates on how the summer preparation for the fall XC season is going. As we enter the fall XC season, I will post updates every two weeks.