Cross Country teams ranked second in conference, fourth in region entering season

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2009) – With the men’s team coming off three consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Conference titles and the women’s team having won in 2007, both Tigers’ teams enter their respective 2009 campaigns ranked fourth in the West Region with each team earning a No. 2 a pre-season ranking in the SCIAC.

For the men, who have maintained the top spot in the conference during the entire tenure of Head Coach Rob Bartlett, 18 men will take to the course in 2009.

Leading the way for the Tiger men will be sophomore defending SCIAC Runner of the Year Eric Kleinsasser and senior Clay Hoadley, who finished fifth in the SCIAC Both men earned All-West Region and All-SCIAC honors a year ago and will pace the pack. Nine other runners will re-join the team this year and seven freshmen have been added to the roster for the upcoming season.

While Kleinsasser and Hoadley are the front runners for Oxy and will factor into the success of the team, Will Hollingsworth and first year Mario Castillo are also both athletes to watch. The black and orange will need the entire squad to push one another to round out the scoring five as they look to again defend their title.

“Expectations are high after winning the last three SCIAC Championships and the team will need to step up after graduating Keith [Blumenfeld] and David [Martinez] who were two key runners (captains, All-SCIAC, All-West Region) from last year,” shared Bartlett. “This team definitely has the ability to do that.”

On the women’s side of things, the Tigers will look to a pair of All-SCIAC runners in senior Grace Peck and sophomore Sadie Mohler as 17 runners return to the courses. Another returning runner to watch is sophomore Meghan Wahlen. Oxy also has high expectations for the 12 new faces joining the black and orange in 2009. First year athletes to watch include Phoebe Merritt and Tara Saxena.

The numbers on the team this year allow a lot of depth, which will play a huge role in the success of the program.

“If this team runs as a pack they will be very competitive,” Bartlett went on, “This squad will be much improved from a year ago and early indications show that the team has worked incredibly hard during the summer, building on a successful track & field season.”

The work that these ladies have put in during their time away from campus will surely make them a contender to challenge for the SCIAC title.