Coach Chas Davis is trying to do something a bit unorthodox with his cross-country team this year: bring it out of the Missouri Valley Conference cellar.
In the past three years the women’s team has not finished better than ninth place at the MVC Cross Country Championships. Aside from the men’s fourth place finish three years ago, it too has struggled to find its way out of the MVC basement.
“I knew when I started in the summer of ’09 that it was going to take at least two to three years to develop the kind of culture necessary to legitimately shoot for better than about seventh or eighth in the MVC on both sides,” Davis said.
In just his second year as head coach, Davis has already made strides with his young team. Eight of his 10 scorers at the recent University of Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational were either sophomores or freshman, and Davis is taking this season to teach the young team his philosophy.
“[Getting the team to buy into the philosophy] can’t be expected to happen completely within the first season or two, considering where we were coming from,” Davis said. “But gradually, as we start seeing more and more individuals break out with personal success, more of their teammates will realize ‘yes, this does work, and yes, these sacrifices and beliefs are worthwhile and will be meaningful to me.'”
Davis’ squad has seen improvements in almost every facet this year. The women’s team has consistently competed and finished in the top half of the field in two of the four races. In its most recent race in Kenosha, Wis., the women’s team finished fifth out of
10 teams.
The team was led once again by freshman Slaine Kelly, who took fourth place out of 100 runners. Rounding out the top three for the Jays were freshmen Hannah Krumreich, who got 24th place, and Meagan Wilderson, who got 35th place.
The men’s team has struggled a bit this year with no top-half finishes, mainly due to injuries. In their most recent race in Kenosha, junior Chris Culhane led the men for the fourth time in as many races. Culhane finished 11th out of 99 runners. The other top finishers for the men were junior Casey Jergenson, who took 29th place, and sophomore Tom Shimp, who took 32nd place.
“This season has been a lesson in how to accept factors that are out of our control and confront issues that we can do something about, especially with the women’s squad,” Davis said. “We’ve been through our challenges, and we’re not out of the woods yet, but it’s going to make exceptional leaders out of these young men and women.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete in the State Farm MVC Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Augusta, Kan.