The women are coming off their best season ever, finishing 2nd at conference and making it to nationals. The 2008 version will look DRASTICALLY different than last year. Of course, it is tough to lose the greatest distance runner in NCAA history, plus 2 other key runners and not look drastically different.
Here is how the 2007 lineup shaped up (the numbers besides the name is the place for that runner at conference, regional and nationals):
1. Sally Kipyego - 1st/1st/1st
2. Irene Kimaiyo - 4th/4th/59th
3. Gladys Kipsang - 16th/8th/78th
4. Chep Boit - 27th/44th/179th
5. Asia Diaz - 35th/57th/229th
6. Michelle Guzman - 76th/64th/239th
7. Katherine Priebe - 84th/104th/250th
8. Addision Lemaster - 96th/DNC/DNC
9. Michelle Edman - 99th/DNC/DNC
10. Chelsea Ervi
11. Kayla Sayegh
12. Kaci Westervelt
Right off the bat in 2008, Tech loses #2 Kimaiyo and #4 Boit to graduation. Then, it is highly unlikely that #1 Kipyego (quite possibly the greatest woman distance runner in NCAA history) returns, as she will or has already turned pro. (AlanTech, you are great at finding obscure results - have you found any results for Sally that shows her running for a professional team?) So, right off the bat, Tech loses 3 of their top 4 runners. I also hear that Chelsea Ervi, who last year was a freshman from Salado, has chosen not to run any more. She had a terribly disappointing freshman year in 2007 and did not run on the track at all, officially taking a redshirt year.
The 2008 team will feature Texas HS graduates almost exclusively. Here are the returnees:
Gladys Kipsang - Jr from Kenya - Tech will go from 4 Kenyans on the XC team to only one, Gladys. She had a very good year on the track in 2008 and I think that will carry over. Gladys improved dramatically between 2007 and 2008 on the track and if she carries that improvement over to XC, she could be a top 10 conference runner.
Asia Diaz - Sr from Garland Naaman Forest - Asia had a superb track season in 2007, then started out the 2008 XC like a house afire - looking like a possible conference top 10 runner, including a terrific run at the Chile Pepper in Fayetteville to finish 16th in one of the great college XC races in this region. Then, she fell apart late in the year - at conference, regional and nationals. She started very slowly in the 2008 track season, but came on late to have a good year. Asia has the talent to be a top 20 runner at conference and Tech will need for her to take her game to that level.
Michelle Guzman - So from Giddings - this kid could be really good before she finishes at Tech and I mean qualify for nationals and compete for top 10 places at conference kind of good. She is tough, determined kid who gets better the longer the race. She was Tech's top freshman out of a large crop of new runners in 2007. I expect to see her make antoher leap this year into a top 40 kind of runner at conference. She will need to do just that if Tech has any chance of competing for a top 6 spot at the conference meet.
Katherine Priebe - So from Midland - Katherine started the 2007 XC season right alongside Michelle, then began to tail off late in the XC season. She followed that up with a poor track season. Which version of Katherine will we see in 2008 - the early season Katherine who was the most pleasant surprise of the early XC season or the later season version who labored to compete at the D-I level?
Addison Lemaster - So from Tulia - Addison was coming off of a terrible hamstring injury in her HS senior year and never really got untracked in the 2007 XC season. In fact, the coaches decided to redshirt her on the track to give her more time to get healthy. Very interesting potential in Addison, who in HS raced in the 400, 800 and 1600 - in fact, her best finishes at the state meet were in the 400. So, she has good speed for a distance runner. Addison is my early candidate to have a breakout season of dramatic improvement.
Michelle Edman - Jr from Spring - a really nice kid who has improved a great deal in her 2 years at Tech, but she is still far from being conference-competitive at the Big 12 level.
Kayla Sayegh - So from Cedar Park - a cross country specialist in HS who got little running time for Tech in 2007. I don't know that this year will be any different.
Kaci Westervelt - So from Coppell - walkon kid who only got to run 2 meets for Tech in 2007 and who will need a huge improvement in 2008 to get any more competitive opportunities.
NEWCOMERS - there are no Sally Kipyego's on the horizon for Tech, but there is a terrific new kid and 2 other intriguing additions for 2008.
Brintney Green - Freshman from Spring Westfield - great new addition. You have probably read some of my past posts about her. She was 4th at the 5A state meet in the 800 in 2005, but did not make the meet in 2006, 2007 or 2008 - each year being the highest ranked halfmiler in the Houston area only to meet disaster at her regional meet. She is a legit 2:10 halfmiler out of high school. She also finished 3rd in the 5A XC meet last fall. She has unusual endurance for a halfmiler. Lots of potential here, but Brintney will not have the luxury of coming in and acclimating to college gradually, she will have to produce immediately.
The other additions are kids who ran for Tech in 2008 on the track, but did not run XC - Shannon Jackson (So from Houston Westbury and Kearci Jobe (So from Keller Central). Shannon had an excellent freshman year in the halfmiler on the track, just missing the finals at the Big 12. She could really help this year. Kearci had a mediocre year on the track, but she spent the early year trying to become a heptathlete (for obvious reasons, since she is a terrific HS high jumper). Late in the 2008 track season, Kearci began to concentrate on the 800 and it was too late. Still, lots of potential here from a former state 800 champ.
If I were to guess at a potential order for the top 10, out of these kids, it might look like this:
1. Glady Kipsang
2. Asia Diaz
3. Michelle Guzman
4. Brintney Green
5. Addison Lemaster
6> Katherine Priebe
7. Shannon Jackson
8. Kearci Jobe
9. Kayla Sayegh
10. Michelle Edman
This obviously won't be a top 3 confernce team - the team is young and relatively inexperienced. However, there is some great potential from this squad. If by some miracle Sally does not go pro and comes back to Tech to run XC this year, that changes everything IMMEDIATELY and things get interesting really fast.
Here is how the 2007 lineup shaped up (the numbers besides the name is the place for that runner at conference, regional and nationals):
1. Sally Kipyego - 1st/1st/1st
2. Irene Kimaiyo - 4th/4th/59th
3. Gladys Kipsang - 16th/8th/78th
4. Chep Boit - 27th/44th/179th
5. Asia Diaz - 35th/57th/229th
6. Michelle Guzman - 76th/64th/239th
7. Katherine Priebe - 84th/104th/250th
8. Addision Lemaster - 96th/DNC/DNC
9. Michelle Edman - 99th/DNC/DNC
10. Chelsea Ervi
11. Kayla Sayegh
12. Kaci Westervelt
Right off the bat in 2008, Tech loses #2 Kimaiyo and #4 Boit to graduation. Then, it is highly unlikely that #1 Kipyego (quite possibly the greatest woman distance runner in NCAA history) returns, as she will or has already turned pro. (AlanTech, you are great at finding obscure results - have you found any results for Sally that shows her running for a professional team?) So, right off the bat, Tech loses 3 of their top 4 runners. I also hear that Chelsea Ervi, who last year was a freshman from Salado, has chosen not to run any more. She had a terribly disappointing freshman year in 2007 and did not run on the track at all, officially taking a redshirt year.
The 2008 team will feature Texas HS graduates almost exclusively. Here are the returnees:
Gladys Kipsang - Jr from Kenya - Tech will go from 4 Kenyans on the XC team to only one, Gladys. She had a very good year on the track in 2008 and I think that will carry over. Gladys improved dramatically between 2007 and 2008 on the track and if she carries that improvement over to XC, she could be a top 10 conference runner.
Asia Diaz - Sr from Garland Naaman Forest - Asia had a superb track season in 2007, then started out the 2008 XC like a house afire - looking like a possible conference top 10 runner, including a terrific run at the Chile Pepper in Fayetteville to finish 16th in one of the great college XC races in this region. Then, she fell apart late in the year - at conference, regional and nationals. She started very slowly in the 2008 track season, but came on late to have a good year. Asia has the talent to be a top 20 runner at conference and Tech will need for her to take her game to that level.
Michelle Guzman - So from Giddings - this kid could be really good before she finishes at Tech and I mean qualify for nationals and compete for top 10 places at conference kind of good. She is tough, determined kid who gets better the longer the race. She was Tech's top freshman out of a large crop of new runners in 2007. I expect to see her make antoher leap this year into a top 40 kind of runner at conference. She will need to do just that if Tech has any chance of competing for a top 6 spot at the conference meet.
Katherine Priebe - So from Midland - Katherine started the 2007 XC season right alongside Michelle, then began to tail off late in the XC season. She followed that up with a poor track season. Which version of Katherine will we see in 2008 - the early season Katherine who was the most pleasant surprise of the early XC season or the later season version who labored to compete at the D-I level?
Addison Lemaster - So from Tulia - Addison was coming off of a terrible hamstring injury in her HS senior year and never really got untracked in the 2007 XC season. In fact, the coaches decided to redshirt her on the track to give her more time to get healthy. Very interesting potential in Addison, who in HS raced in the 400, 800 and 1600 - in fact, her best finishes at the state meet were in the 400. So, she has good speed for a distance runner. Addison is my early candidate to have a breakout season of dramatic improvement.
Michelle Edman - Jr from Spring - a really nice kid who has improved a great deal in her 2 years at Tech, but she is still far from being conference-competitive at the Big 12 level.
Kayla Sayegh - So from Cedar Park - a cross country specialist in HS who got little running time for Tech in 2007. I don't know that this year will be any different.
Kaci Westervelt - So from Coppell - walkon kid who only got to run 2 meets for Tech in 2007 and who will need a huge improvement in 2008 to get any more competitive opportunities.
NEWCOMERS - there are no Sally Kipyego's on the horizon for Tech, but there is a terrific new kid and 2 other intriguing additions for 2008.
Brintney Green - Freshman from Spring Westfield - great new addition. You have probably read some of my past posts about her. She was 4th at the 5A state meet in the 800 in 2005, but did not make the meet in 2006, 2007 or 2008 - each year being the highest ranked halfmiler in the Houston area only to meet disaster at her regional meet. She is a legit 2:10 halfmiler out of high school. She also finished 3rd in the 5A XC meet last fall. She has unusual endurance for a halfmiler. Lots of potential here, but Brintney will not have the luxury of coming in and acclimating to college gradually, she will have to produce immediately.
The other additions are kids who ran for Tech in 2008 on the track, but did not run XC - Shannon Jackson (So from Houston Westbury and Kearci Jobe (So from Keller Central). Shannon had an excellent freshman year in the halfmiler on the track, just missing the finals at the Big 12. She could really help this year. Kearci had a mediocre year on the track, but she spent the early year trying to become a heptathlete (for obvious reasons, since she is a terrific HS high jumper). Late in the 2008 track season, Kearci began to concentrate on the 800 and it was too late. Still, lots of potential here from a former state 800 champ.
If I were to guess at a potential order for the top 10, out of these kids, it might look like this:
1. Glady Kipsang
2. Asia Diaz
3. Michelle Guzman
4. Brintney Green
5. Addison Lemaster
6> Katherine Priebe
7. Shannon Jackson
8. Kearci Jobe
9. Kayla Sayegh
10. Michelle Edman
This obviously won't be a top 3 confernce team - the team is young and relatively inexperienced. However, there is some great potential from this squad. If by some miracle Sally does not go pro and comes back to Tech to run XC this year, that changes everything IMMEDIATELY and things get interesting really fast.
