By
Francisco Merced
Arizona Daily Wildcat
All 6 return to increase chances for upcoming season
In a season of change and new arrivals, one thing the UA women's cross country team can count on this year is stability.
With the six core runners from last year's fifth-place Pacific 10 Conference team returning, the Wildcats look forward to a season of increased promise. Arizona finished 27th in the 1999 NCAA Championships.
Returning as head coach for the Wildcats coach Dave Murray, who's expecting bigger and better things from this year's squad as he enters his 34th year as head coach.
"This team should be a lot stronger this year," Murray said. "We have the largest number of new recruits this year, almost doubling the size of the women's team this year."
With the added depth, the Wildcats hope to solve the main problem the team was facing last season.
Registering a squad that had only six runners, the Wildcats were forced into having excellent meets week in and week out in the extremely competitive Pac-10 . All the competition proved to be a tiresome task for UA.
"Last year we had to have excellent races every week and if one person had an off day, then our team score would reflect that." Murray said.
Returning as the Wildcats' No. 1 runner is junior Tara Chaplin.
The junior is returning from a busy summer that included running in two NCAA Championship races in May - the 5000 meters and the 10,000m - and again in July when she traveled to Sacramento, Calif. to participate in this year's Olympic Trials.
"I hope to have a better year than last (year)," Chaplin said. "I want to improve each race, unlike what I did last year."
Expectations are even higher from her coach.
"She'll be one of the better distance runners in the country on the collegiate level," Murray said. "She's very capable of finishing in the top 10 nationally and probably one of the top three in the Pac-10."
Murray's confidence speaks volumes of Chaplin's ability considering the fact that she runs in one of the top cross country conferences in the nation. The Pac-10 is lead by national powerhouse Stanford, the experts' choice to repeat as champion.
One important change this year will be the distance the women's race will be competing in. Traditionally, the women's race has been at the 5000m mark, a distance older coaches such as Murray petitioned to increase for over 10 years. The new mark of 6000m has Murray expecting better races from some of his athletes.
"Runners such as (senior) Katrin (Engelen) will have improved times for this season because she's a better longer distance runner." Murray said.
Fellow junior Erin Doherty also expects better things this year from the Wildcats.
"We have great depth and good runners coming in who will be a contributing factor," she said.
UA's new recruits include two transfers from Boise State University and one from Dartmouth University. Two incoming freshmen will also help in solving the problem of depth.
Sophomore Nicole Gurnicz, who finished second in the Big West Conference 5000m and senior Abby Peters, the Big West Cross Country champion in the 3000m and 5000m, will bring impressive resumes to the program. Peters, however, will have to sit out this year due to transfer rules that declare her ineligible.
Along with the returning runners - junior Jennifer Burris and sophomores Kimberly Bates and Mandee Ash - the Wildcats may be in position to make a run for the top spot of the Pac-10 Conference.
