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2004 Season Outlook The Lady Jacket cross country program has gotten used to running with the NAIA’s elite teams. Cedarville has finished in the Top 10 at the national meet for four consecutive years which included a national championship in 2001. This year, the women have some work to do to get back to that level, but the talent appears to be in place to get the job done. “We’re happy with where we’re at,” said head coach Elvin King, whose team is pre-season ranked 20th in the country. “We graduated our top three runners and two of them were NAIA All-Americans. A fourth graduate ran on our national championship team so we lost a lot of experience and depth. We need a solid year from the returning runners and contribution from the newcomers to move up in the rankings.” Only four women are back that competed in 2003 including the lone senior on the roster, co-captain Melissa Mattner. She finished last season, which was her first in cross country, as the team’s #4 runner and she was an NCCAA All-America Scholar-Athlete.
Juniors Sarah Bailey and Kathy Scott are the other co-captains. They both have extensive experience on the team with Scott running in seven meets last year and Bailey appearing in five. Melissa Wysong is back following a great rookie season. She was an NCCAA All-American by placing 14th in a career-best time of 19:16. She was also an American Mideast Conference honorable mention performer. A few other names, familiar to CU distance running fans, could come right to the forefront to make the Lady Jackets a contender with most anyone. Jennifer McKellar was the team’s #4 runner as a freshman two years ago and placed 40th at the NAIA Nationals. She sat out last year with an injury. Samantha Maat assembled an incredible season on the track as a freshman and will be making her first appearance in cross country. She was an NAIA All-American in the outdoor 10K and the indoor 5K, an NCCAA All-American in the outdoor 10K and indoor 5K, and was the AMC champion in the 5K. Christina Reyes, whose older brother Sergio was a two-time NAIA All-American at Cedarville, is the top recruit coming in as a transfer from Cuesta College in California.
Julie Martz, Maria Harley, and Audree Goodew also come in highly regarded. Martz was a two-time all-state runner in Indiana and a member of three state title teams; Harley was a two-time All-Ohio Division III performer; and Goodew was part of a Minnesota state runner-up squad. King summarized his outlook by saying, “Cross country is what happens at the end of the season. We have phenomenal leadership and good team unity. While other teams may be stronger, if we can get through the season without injuries then I think we can be stronger, too.” The Lady Jackets will host the 14th Annual Friendship Invitational on Sept. 18 and the NCCAA Nationals on Nov. 13. Both will take place at John Bryan State Park. Cedarville hits the road for up to six meets at Hope, Louisville, Ohio Intercollegiate, Georgetown, AMC Championship, and, if they qualify, the NAIA Nationals. | ||||||||
