Freshman Alicia Nelson will be competing in her first career national championship. She finished third at both the RMAC and Central Regional Championships.'Underdog' Grizzlies looking to 7-peat
November 20, 2009Grizzlies enter NCAA's ranked No. 4
EVANSVILLE, Ind.— Championship teams are often talked about when they try to repeat or even “3-peat”. The terms “4-peat and 5-peat” are even periodically thrown out when talking about dynasties.
But the term “7-peat” is not often used, unless you are talking about what the Adams State College women’s cross country team is trying to do this year as the Grizzlies will be gunning for a seventh straight NCAA Division II National Title, Saturday here at the University of Southern Indiana Cross County Course.
That feat would not be unprecedented as the ASC won eight straight NCAA Division II National Championships since joining the ranks in 1992 after claiming the last of three NAIA titles the year prior. The Grizzlies, who were known as the Indians until 1996, then fell out of the top spot for three years from 2000-2002 finishing second behind arch-rival Western State in two of those years by just a combined 12 points before regaining the top spot in 2003.
The Grizzlies then repeated here on this same course in 2004 and have since gone on to win four more titles, including the 2007 crown by a meet-record 115 points.
This year, coach Damon Martin brings a team that is somewhat of an underdog if you look only at the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II rankings. The Grizzlies had held the top spot in 23 straight polls from the start of the 2007 season but slipped to fourth after finishing sixth at the Division I dominated Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Oct. 3. Finishing just behind now No. 2 Missouri Southern State, the host school during the Grizzlies 1999 and 2007 wins, at that meet the Grizzlies fell in the rankings and have not moved up despite convincing 49 and 52-point wins at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Central Regional Championships, respectively, over the last month.
Martin, a 25-time National Coach of the Year, has used those rankings for motivation and is hoping his speeches are enough to propel his squad to the top spot once again.
Martin, who was earlier named as the RMAC and Central Region Coach of the Year, brings a squad that includes three newcomers to his 7-woman lineup, a trio that has been at the top of the Grizzly lineup for most of the year. However, Martin also has four past USTFCCCA All-Americans in seniors Janette Cary (McCarroll) (La Jara, Colo.), Vanessa Roy (Pont Sainte Maxence, France) and juniors Sofia Monroe (Pueblo, Colo.) and Ashley Quintana (Pecos, N.M.) to provide some experience and leadership.
The Grizzly newcomers are juniors Kristen McGlynn (Bailey, Colo.) and Addison LeMaster (Tulia, Texas), who transferred to ASC from Division I Baylor and Texas Tech, respectively, and freshman phenom Alicia Nelson (Craig, Colo.).
McGlynn has led the Grizzlies for most of the year posting three individual wins and a runner-up finish in five efforts. One of her victories came at the RMAC Championships as the Grizzlies took three of the top four spots. Named as the RMAC Runner of the Year after that effort, she also finished second at the Central Regional Championships as the Grizzlies placed three runners amongst the top five finishers.
A 2-time high school state champion while running for Platte Canyon, McGlynn had only effort this year that she would like back, that coming at Oklahoma State, where she took 24th as the Grizzlies third runner.
Nelson, a state champion while at Moffat County High School just over a year ago, has been nearly as strong taking third at both the RMAC and Central Regional Championships while earning the conference’s freshman of the year accolades as well as USTFCCCA All-Central Region and First Team All-RMAC honors.
LeMaster, a Texas high school state champion as well, also earned all-region and First Team All-RMAC honors after taking fourth at the conference meet and 12th as the Grizzlies’ No. 4 runner earlier this month at the regional competition.
It was Roy that made the biggest leap between the RMAC and regional meet as she took 12th place while earning Second Team All-RMAC honors as the Grizzlies’ No. 5 runner at the conference meet in Denver on Oct. 24 before moving all the way to be the team’s third runner and the fifth overall finisher at the regional meet on Nov. 7 in Wayne, Neb.
Roy, who earned All-America honors on the track last year, was also in solid form taking fifth overall amongst a field of 211 finishers at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, where she led the team.
The other three Grizzly veterans have all been battling injuries over different parts of the last two seasons but have shown to be in good form as of late.
McCarroll, a 4-time All-American during her cross country and track and field career, took ninth at the RMAC Championships earning Second Team All-RMAC honors as the Grizzlies’ No. 4 runner. She has also been known to come through for the Grizzlies before sealing the team’s 2006 national championship as the fifth runner when she was a true freshman before earning Cross Country All-America honors in each of the last two years after taking 29th in 2007 and 30th a year ago.
Monroe, who capped the 2008 team’s national championship with a 32nd overall and 24th place team finish as the team’s No. 5 runner last year, was out much of this season with an injury but made her return to the course in fine form earning all-region honors with a 14th place finish as the team’s fifth runner. She has five total All-America certificates, including last year’s cross country placing.
Quintana is also an All-American after finishing a solid 21st overall as a redshirt freshman in 2007. She did struggle at the 2008 national championships as injuries that kept her out of the entire 2008-09 track and field season crept into the picture. More recently, Quintana finished 16th at the RMAC Championships earning her third straight All-RMAC honor.
After finishing second to the Grizzlies in two of the last three years, including by 23 points last year, Grand Valley State (Mich.) is the top-ranked team coming in this year. The Lakers placed five runners in the top eight at the Great Lakes Regional Championships and had all seven runners finish in the top 15. They are undefeated this year and also placed seven runners amongst the top eight en-route to a ninth straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crown.
Missouri Southern State also fared well in their earlier championship meets placing six runners in the top 10 at the South Central Regional Championships while after placing six in the top seven at the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships two weeks prior. The Lions have won three straight regional titles and four straight conference crowns but have never finished better than 13th at the national championships.
Alaska-Anchorage enters the national championship ranked third in the USTFCCCA poll after the Seawolves won their first ever West Regional titles this year while placing three runners in the top five. The Seawolves had their best ever national finish last year, taking ninth.
They leap-frogged the Grizzlies in the final set of USTFCCCA rankings after moving up two spots from No. 5 after besting then No. 2 Chico State (Calif.), which is now ranked fifth, at the West Regional. The Wildcats, who took over the No. 1 spot from the Grizzlies in early October, are the California Collegiate Athletic Association Champions and are also a dark horse contender after finishing fourth three times during the Grizzlies’ current run of six teams, most recently in 2007.
Fans should also not forget about No. 6 Seattle Pacific, last year’s runner-up, nor No. 7 Western State, up five spots in the USTFCCCA poll after their runner-up finish to the Grizzlies at the Central Regional Championships.
Seattle Pacific is led by reigning NCAA Division II individual champion Jessica Pixler while the Mountaineers are the only other team to have won a national title since ASC and the rest of the RMAC entered the Division II ranks.
Related Item: Championship Website
Related Item: Men's Preview
