A new year. A new set of challenges. A brand new coaching staff.
New is the theme for the 2013 Santa Rosa Junior College Men and Women’s Cross Country team going into the season, and the new atmosphere is breeding excitement throughout both clubs.
Head coach David Wellman is the new face of the team, along with assistant coach Mike Wortman and volunteer assistant coach Alicia Lueth.
This is Lueth’s first year coaching. She has a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Sonoma State University. She competed in cross country at SSU, and is an SRJC track and field alumni.
The off-season was full of recruiting. Out of 20 runners, the team has five returning from last year while 15 are freshman.
“I’m very excited to be coaching cross country this year,” Wellman said.
Wellman said he thinks his team will fare well this season. “The men would be in the top two, and the women have a small team, but probably will be in the top three,” he said.
SRJC has stiff competition to look out for in the Big 8 Conference.
“American River is a great team and will probably be number one in the conference,” Wellman said.
One of the challenges for the team this season will be going toe-to-toe with universities.
“I am excited,” Wellman said. “We will be going against Division II schools and against Sonoma State University Sept. 21.”
This means the men will run 8km and the women will run 6km to train for their meets against universities.
“The big thing about competing against universities will be the exposure the players will get,” Wellman said.
Assistant coach Mike Wortman believes this year’s talent is some of the best in SRJC Cross Country team history. He is confident the team can make it to the state meet.
Wortman is planning on using “pack running” as a strategy to help the team achieve better results during its races.
Pack running is when the team runs in a large group to keep its place, rather than running as individuals.
The overall goal for this year is to “keep everybody healthy and everything else will fall into place,” Wortman said.
