Experience key in cross country’s bid for conference title
James Madison eyes William & Mary in quest for conference supremacy
Posted on August 27, 2007
The JMU Women’s Cross Country team opens its season on September 15 with the JMU Invitational in New Market, VA. Coming off of a third place season a year ago, Madison will look to improve its CAA standing.
“Our goal is always to win the conference,” coach Dave Rinker said.
If the team is to meet this high expectation, Rinker will need his leaders from last year to continue to produce.
“We have our top five runners and eight of our top twelve runners returning from last year,” Rinker said. “Among our key returnees are senior Michelle Beardmore, junior Christy Ward, and senior Dena Spickard.”
Beardmore contributed in a big way to JMU’s strong showing at last year’s CAA Championships, running 21 minutes, 34 seconds to win the individual title. In addition to her solid athletic showing, Beardmore also excelled in the classroom. She was named a JMU Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete, which shows her leadership both as a student and a runner.
Spickard was also named the 2006 CAA Conference Runner of the Year and finished 107th at the NCAA National Championships.
Ward is another stabilizing force who should help JMU contend for a championship. If she can improve on her sophomore year, when she finished 11th with a time of 22 minutes, 35 seconds, she should help to provide a tough trio, joining Beardmore and the best runner in the CAA, Spickard. JMU needs these three especially to repeat their high caliber performances if they are to overtake four-time defending champion William and Mary.
“William and Mary won the conference last year, and they will be our biggest competition again this season,” Rinker said.
Once again, expect either the Dukes or the Tribe to win the CAA this season; one of the two schools has won the conference dating back to 1990, with JMU last winning in 2002. William and Mary will be a tough hurdle to clear, as it placed nine runners in the top fifteen at last year’s CAA Championships, compared to JMU’s two. However, of those nine top-fifteen finishers, only six return.
JMU will once again be near the top of conference all season, but Rinker knows that his team can still improve.
“We need to become more aggressive in races and train together more as a team,” Rinker said.
“After our top five, we need another group to come forward to solidify our team.”
Potential candidates for breakout years are Emily Hellmuth and Amber Lussier, who finished 34th and 42nd, respectively, at the 2006 Championships. Together with the proven ability of Beardmore, Ward, and Spickard, these improvements could propel JMU over William and Mary for the first time in four years.