The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Cross Country Expecting Strong Season In 2009
9/3/2009 | Track and Field
"We are really looking forward to getting our season started Sunday because the Brooks Twilight Classic is a really neat meet," Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker said. "It's kind of a unique meet because we will be running at night under the lights."
The women will open up the meet with a 5K run, while the men will follow and run a four mile course.
After Saturday's race, the Rebels will take a week off from competition before hosting the first of two home meets this season. Ole Miss will host the Pre-SEC Invitational Sept. 26 at the Ole Miss Golf Course before hosting the SEC Cross Country Championships at the same site on Oct. 31.
"We are excited to be able to host a pair of meets because it's always good to have the opportunity to run at home," Walker "You get to run in front of your family and friends and you don't have to travel at all. That is a definite blessing for us." said.
Expectations for the men's team are very high this season, and Saturday will mark the highly anticipated return of junior Barnabas Kirui. Kirui, who sat out all of last season and most of the 2007 due to injury, looks to return to the form that saw him win the SEC Cross Country Championships as a freshman in 2006.
Kirui also won the NCAA South Regional in 2006 and became the first runner in Ole Miss history to accomplish that feat. He went on to win several conference and national accolades, as he was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, the SEC Male Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA South Region Runner of the Year.
"Having Barnabas back gives us a guy that can win the conference, and if he is totally healthy he should win the conference," Ole Miss associate head coach Doug Blackwell said. "I don't think there is anybody else in the conference that can run with him. He is just that talented and I think he will be better than he was in 2006."
The Rebels will also rely heavily on the legs of upperclassmen Gabriel Ngwiri and Chad Berry. Both runners had strong finishes last season and finished among the top 60 at the SEC Cross Country Championships. Ngwiri turned in a 31st place finish, while Berry posted a 59th place finish.
"Gabriel is really coming around and is actually running better now than the whole time he has been here," Blackwell said. "He is capable of running close to Barnabas. If he does that, we have a chance to be a lot better this year."
"Chad is looking like he is having the best training year that he has ever had since coming to Ole Miss," Blackwell added. "He has come back in great shape and we are looking for him to have a breakout year."
The Rebels have yet to make any decisions on who will fill the final two spots, but Blackwell remains confident some of the newcomers can step into those roles and be successful runners this season.
"We're going to better than we were last year, but how much better I don't know," Blackwell said. "We could move up 10 places per person and still finish the same because the SEC is just that good."
The women's team is once again expected to be led by sophomore Logan Waites. As a freshman, Waites served as the team's top runner and went on to post a 49th place finish at the SEC Cross Country Championships. She also won an individual title at the Southern Miss Invitational and turned in a sixth place finish at the Pre-SEC Invitational.
"Logan has a chance to have the best year of any distance runner that we have ever had," Blackwell said. "She is light years ahead of where she was at this time last year, and we think she is going to be one of the top runners in the conference this year."
The Rebels also return Allison Kneip, Anna Adams and Julie Little to form a solid group to go along with Waites. Blackwell added that the trio had an excellent summer and he expects big seasons from each of them.
"Allison should have a breakout year and I'm also expecting Anna to have a breakout year as well," Blackwell said. "If I can get Julie to just stay with Logan long enough, she will have a breakout year too."
Saturday's meet in Memphis will give the Rebel coaching staff an opportunity to target certain areas that need improvement, while also providing them with an idea of where the team stands in the grand scheme of things.
"The first couple of meets of the year is where I watch and see how they compete," Blackwell said. "They are going to go into it tired, and I get a chance to see how they compete when they are somewhat tired. This is not a fun run. This is a run where I want them to go in and give it everything they have."