Runners prepare for ’02 season
The Georgia College & State University cross-country teams are two different teams competing for one common goal.
The men’s team has a roster of five seniors and three sophomores. While the women’s team is comprised of mostly sophomores and freshmen. This is also the first year running for five of the women and one of the men.
The men’s team is led by talented seniors James (J.R.) Black and Morgan Stallings. They look to lead the experienced Bobcats into the 2002 season. Black and Stallings split top runner honors in eight meets last ear. They each finished as GC&SU’s top runner in four meets last year. Stallings set a new school record last year in the 2001 Peach Belt Championships with a time of 27:38 in an 8k race.
“This year it’s a coach’s dream with both of them returning and competing with each other,” said Head Coach Joseph Samprone. “They’re pushing each other and making each other work. I’ve got a very experienced team on the men’s side.”
Also returning are Seniors Will Hill and Will Cleghorn. Hill was the Bobcats second place finisher once and third place finisher seven times last year, and Cleghorn finished in the Bobcat top five in every race last year. Senior Jeff Raymond returns after a one-year hiatus.
“I’m happy with my returning students on the men’s side,” said Samprone. “They’re all good runners.”
The underclassmen returning will include sophomores Misha Tenenbaum and Nate Mwane. Tenebaum and Mwane join new runner and fellow Sophomore Adam Dukes to complete the very experienced and very talented men’s team.
The women’s team is the exact opposite of their men counterparts. The women’s team does not have the benefit of the leadership from an abundance of seniors and juniors. Instead, the team is led by sophomore Bethany Loushine. Loushine re-wrote the record books last year for GC&SU. Loushine now owns the right to six of the top ten times at GC&SU, including the top five. She also earned All-Peach Belt Conference honors last year. She was the top finisher for the Bobcats in every meet last year.
“The person that really ran well last year was Bethany Loushine,” said Samprone. “She’s a great athlete and is still going to be a great leader for this team.”
Also returning is Junior Sarah Lipscomb, and sophomores Karen Hjelmeland and Sarah Crouse. Along with Loushine, they look to lead a new crew of inexperienced runners.
New runners for the women’s team include sophomores Mandy Alliston, Kelley Fleischmann and Lindsey Bloodworth, who also plays on the Lady Bobcat basketball team, and freshmen Joshelin Kantor, Meghan Spall and Kelly Sowers.
“We have two freshmen on the women’s team,” said Samprone. “Meghan and Kelly look like they’re going to be pretty good. They’ve got a lot of potential and I hope that over the years that potential will come to show. We’ve added more this year than we lost with graduation. The women’s team I believe will be stronger this year.”
Samprone doesn’t use a different strategy for the men and women to differentiate the experience factor. The runners regulate their running on their own.
“I try to get them to run to their potential,” said Samprone. “I am a very patient person and I think runners know what they’re capable of. You compete with yourself as a runner but you are part of a team. They all know what their personal record is and they all want to set new ones.”
There is a strong sense of team chemistry between the two teams. Samprone believes cross-country is seen as an individual sport, but it takes a cohesiv team to achieve their goal.
“There’s a great feel of camaraderie between the men’s and women’s teams,” said Samprone. “It’s not like basketball where you’ll have the men and women separate. They practice together, they travel together, they all get along and have a lot of fun.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 6 2002. Filed under Sports.
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