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Photo by: Hali Helfgott
USC Opens The Season At The UC Riverside Cross Country Invite Saturday
September 14, 2018 | Women's Cross Country, Features
The USC women's cross country team will open the 2018 season at the 38th annual UC Riverside Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 15 in Riverside, Calif. The 6K race will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the 5K race at 8:40 a.m. on the UCR Agricultural Operations Course.
Trojans set to compete in the 6K race are Julia Bounds, Amber Gore, Lauren Maurer, Sydney Tullai and Kamryn Weber. USC's runners entered in the 5K race are Alyssa Brewer, Jennifer Daly, Rachel Glynn and Brynn Sauer.
The following is cross country coach Patrick Henner's preseason outlook:
-- 2018 CROSS COUNTRY SEASON OUTLOOK --
In general, the team reported much more fit across the board than a year ago. We are still not exactly where I want them to be, but it takes time. It is a long term investment when you are talking about distance runners. It is a huge improvement from where we were last year, but we still have lots of work to do over the next several years.
We upgraded the schedule and are going to go to pre-nationals in Wisconsin. I think for us to compete where we want to compete over the next few years in cross country and also for our top women to compete where they should on the track, they have to run against great competition in the fall. For us to perform well at the Pac-12 Championships, which is one of the toughest conferences in the country, we have to go against some really good competition before we get to the Pac-12 meet. It is not just about having a good cross country season, but a whole good year and to do that, we have to challenge our runners with high-level competition more than once a year at the Pac-12 Championships.
Senior Amber Gore has come back in even better shape than last year when she was our number one runner. Junior Chloe Berry had a great spring. If she runs at the level she did in the spring, she is going to make a huge difference. Then we need runners to step up from our group of returners which includes sophomore Jennifer Daly, senior Rachel Glynn, senior Lauren Maurer, senior Mikaela Smith, sophomore Sydney Tullai and junior Kamryn Weber. We don't want to rush it with our 800m runners like freshmen Jemima Russell and Alyssa Brewer, but judging from the early practices it looks like by the end of the season they will be able to help us out. However, freshman Brett Chody suffered a stress fracture during the summer and will miss the cross country season, which will hurt us a lot. Our other freshmen runners include Brynn Sauer and McKenzie Shulman.
I would like to see our runners compete with the right people. If Amber and Chloe want to score at the Pac-12 meet, then they need to be up there running with the women who have chance of scoring on the track. So the goal is for them to be competing with the right people at the level they should be competing at and that is all you can really ask for and that is a big reason for the upgrade of the schedule.
We want to elevate our standards on the distance side, more closely to the overall level of our program. The cross country piece might take us 3-4 years to get to the level we would like because it is going to be slow, incremental change. I look forward to the challenge of the process and working with these women to help them become the best runners they can be, and to ultimately elevate the overall level of the program.
Trojans set to compete in the 6K race are Julia Bounds, Amber Gore, Lauren Maurer, Sydney Tullai and Kamryn Weber. USC's runners entered in the 5K race are Alyssa Brewer, Jennifer Daly, Rachel Glynn and Brynn Sauer.
The following is cross country coach Patrick Henner's preseason outlook:
-- 2018 CROSS COUNTRY SEASON OUTLOOK --
- Trojans Patiently Building For The Future –
In general, the team reported much more fit across the board than a year ago. We are still not exactly where I want them to be, but it takes time. It is a long term investment when you are talking about distance runners. It is a huge improvement from where we were last year, but we still have lots of work to do over the next several years.
We upgraded the schedule and are going to go to pre-nationals in Wisconsin. I think for us to compete where we want to compete over the next few years in cross country and also for our top women to compete where they should on the track, they have to run against great competition in the fall. For us to perform well at the Pac-12 Championships, which is one of the toughest conferences in the country, we have to go against some really good competition before we get to the Pac-12 meet. It is not just about having a good cross country season, but a whole good year and to do that, we have to challenge our runners with high-level competition more than once a year at the Pac-12 Championships.
Senior Amber Gore has come back in even better shape than last year when she was our number one runner. Junior Chloe Berry had a great spring. If she runs at the level she did in the spring, she is going to make a huge difference. Then we need runners to step up from our group of returners which includes sophomore Jennifer Daly, senior Rachel Glynn, senior Lauren Maurer, senior Mikaela Smith, sophomore Sydney Tullai and junior Kamryn Weber. We don't want to rush it with our 800m runners like freshmen Jemima Russell and Alyssa Brewer, but judging from the early practices it looks like by the end of the season they will be able to help us out. However, freshman Brett Chody suffered a stress fracture during the summer and will miss the cross country season, which will hurt us a lot. Our other freshmen runners include Brynn Sauer and McKenzie Shulman.
I would like to see our runners compete with the right people. If Amber and Chloe want to score at the Pac-12 meet, then they need to be up there running with the women who have chance of scoring on the track. So the goal is for them to be competing with the right people at the level they should be competing at and that is all you can really ask for and that is a big reason for the upgrade of the schedule.
We want to elevate our standards on the distance side, more closely to the overall level of our program. The cross country piece might take us 3-4 years to get to the level we would like because it is going to be slow, incremental change. I look forward to the challenge of the process and working with these women to help them become the best runners they can be, and to ultimately elevate the overall level of the program.
Monday, September 12
