SHAWNEE –  Oklahoma Baptist placed both its cross country teams in the NCCAA top five last year. A fine season to be sure, but both
Matt Kennedy, who coaches the women, and
Mark Heard, coach of the men, are expecting a better season in 2016.
After establishing themselves as powers in the NAIA and Sooner Athletic Conference, the teams had to adjust last year to the NCAA and the Great American Conference.
"I think as far as the GAC, we learned what that level of competition was going to be like," Kennedy said. "I thought we handled that competition pretty well."
Heard added that the GAC was a tough conference for the men.
"The GAC is tough," Heard said. "There are a lot of great distance programs in there. We prepared hard for it. I think our first exposure in the conference was a good one."
The OBU men return a solid core, but one in need of veterans stepping into leadership and scoring roles.
"
Jacob Janzen was 25
th in the NCCAA last year overall and he's our top guy coming back," Heard said. "
Blaine Whitson is really getting better and better. He did a fantastic job in outdoor track. I look forward to having him back.
Nathan Crowson is a fantastic runner. He wasn't one of our top five guys last year; I look for him to step up.
"
Tommy Uglean has a lot more foot speed and we need him to be a team leader, being a senior," Heard said. "He's looking forward to leading the squad. I look for him to be in the top five this year. He wasn't last year but I know he will be this year.
Grant Alexander trained really hard barely missed our top 7 for nationals last year. He's kind of a 10K guy and really has a lot of distance behind him. I guarantee he's had a solid summer and will be ready to go. We really look for
Hunter Doucette to step up as well."
The OBU men added two freshmen.
"
DeAngelo Robles is a fantastic runner; top five in high school and has a lot of ability," Heard said. "I look for him to potentially be in the top five. Elmore is a great runner and I'm super excited about him. Look for him to get his cross country legs around the second half of the season."
With
Abby Hoover redshirting this season and the graduation of
Miranda Dent, the Lady Bison lost their top two athletes.
"We lose our top two girls, but I think we are uniquely positioned to replace them," Kennedy said. "We were young last year, but we'll be even younger this year in the top seven. I anticipate
Sydney Lawrence, who had a good indoor and outdoor season after she got her cross country legs back, and
Emily Sechrist, who was national champion outdoor in the steeple chase to lead us as sophomores.
Kaylee Large will be important to our success. We've always had great senior leadership, no matter where they rank on the depth chart, and I expect
Lauren Franz,
Emily Banks and
Samantha Sweeney to lead the team this year."
Dani Ingle,
Victoria Joslin,
Miranda Nolen and
Zoya Timoshenko also return.
Joining that solid returning core will be a slew of youngsters.
"We signed seven freshmen and three will compete immediately," Kennedy predicted. Three were high school champions:
Daisy VanMeter from Henryetta,
Kandace Standridge from Poteau and
Tesa Potter from Tecumseh. The four others are
Rachel Froebe,
Ashley Ellis,
Megan Allen and
Mya Hudgins. I know their excitement level is sky high."
Heard said he expects his team to compete well, but everything hinges on good health and a strong commitment to summer work.
"There are a lot of question marks," Heard said. "I'm optimistic, but cautiously optimistic. We have to make sure we keep everybody healthy. With this squad I look for them to know more about what it takes and we should see large improvements. I'm really anxious to see how their summer training went. We hope to finish better than we did last year."
Kennedy said he hoped some late season disappointment fuels this season's team.
"They're talented, they're motivated and they work well together and compete for each other and that's a recipe for winning," Kennedy said. "Our season ended with a little bit of a hiccup last year and we didn't have the finish we wanted. I look for this time to be highly motivated and on a mission."
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