THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – With four returners and five incoming runners, the Cal Lutheran women's cross country program is poised to continue to improve on the course throughout the season.
Erin MacNeil posted the fastest team time in four of the six meets in 2016 with a best 6K time of 24:06.48 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, a course that the team will run again this fall, and will anchor the squad as a sophomore.
The lone senior, Katie Young brings back experience and leadership while Kylie Rodriguez is the only returning junior. Rounding out the quartet is Rachel Ereso who competed both for the cross country and track and field programs a year ago as did the previous mentioned trio.
While there are four returning cross country runners, both Rachel Coleman and Mariah Mercado suited up in Violet and Gold last spring for the track and field team as well. All six student-athletes will contribute significantly on an overall young squad.
Staged to make an immediate impact for the Regals is junior transfer Stephanie Allen who comes from Moorpark College where she competed in both cross country and track and field for two seasons apiece. Also joining the squad for the upcoming season is a pair of freshmen in Olivia Becker (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Taylor Nelson (Valencia, Calif.).
After a long summer of training alone, the team is back together, which will inevitably help each student-athlete improve and grow as the group gets back into racing.
The first opportunity for the Regals to suit up this fall will come on Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Mark Covert Classic, hosted by CSU Fullerton. Racing on a great course, which the team will trot for the first time in 2017, will be a good transition back to competitive running after training individually through the summer months.
With just five competition dates on the regular season calendar, the expectation is to get better each week and do the best racing of the year when it matters most at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships and NCAA Division III West Regionals.
"The Regals have more experience this year than they did last year and we are hopeful that this experience will allow us to take a big step forward this season," head coach Matt Lea shared. "Experience is the biggest factor that will help this group improve from last season," he went on, "They know the courses better, they understand the training and they understand the demands of being a DIII cross country student-athlete."
Roster: 2017 Women's Cross Country Roster
Schedule: 2017 Women's Cross Country Schedule
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
XC Instagram: http://instagram.com/clu_cross_country/
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
XC Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLUCrossCountry
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Tracy L. Olson, Sports Information Director
