Tarleton State Cross Country Preview

Special by Don Garrett

2012 Cross Country Preview: Tarleton State

Both Tarleton teams finished 6^th last year. Both teams return the vast majority of their teams from 2011, so they should be better just for having another year of experience under their belts. I could see both of their teams making up some ground and certainly moving into the top 5 as a team in 2012, particularly if their key returnees are able to move into the top 10 on the men’s side and the top 5 on the women’s side.

WOMEN – they were very close to being a top team last year. Finishing in 6^th, they were only 13 points behind ENMU and 6 points ahead of 7^th place Incarnate Word. With only one loss and a veteran squad, I do see them moving up 1-3 spots this year, if they can find strong #4 and #5 runners.  Their top 3 last year are back this season, but the dropoff to the #4 and #5 last year was substantial.

LOST FROM LAST SEASON - Only one loss, Vanessa Elizondo Martinez, who was once a top-10 runner at the LSC XC meet, but who only finished in 44^th last year and did not run in the LSC track meet at all

RETURNEES (with their LSC XC place in parentheses)

• ·         Lindsey Hinton (10^th) – Sr - has established herself as one of the premier distance runners in the LSC as she had a fantastic LSC track meet – 1^st in the 5K and 2^nd in both the 1500 and the 10K – 28 huge points for TSU. If Hinton moves into the top 5 or even top 3 in the conference, Tarleton might have a chance to challenge Midwestern, Angelo and WT for a spot in the top 3 in XC.
• ·         Karen Ramming (15^th) – So – she had a strong XC debut after a transfer from the University of Oregon, making All-Conference  - then, she did run on the track in March, but must have sustained an injury and did not compete at the conference track meet
• ·         Celeste Meyer (17^th) – Jr - one of the better distance runners on the track as well, she placed 5^th in the 10K and 6^th in the 5K at the LSC track meet last spring
• ·         Payton Shoush (40^th) – Jr - one of the best halfmilers in the LSC – she won the 2011 LSC 800 title and was third last year – but, she has had some challenge with the much longer XC distance (6K or 3.6 miles)
• ·         Ashley Husbands (47^th) – Jr - 13^th in the LSC 1500 on the track
• ·         Kyndall Trnka (48^th) – Sr - 12^th in the LSC 800, she also ran the 1500 (19^th) and 5K (27^th)
• ·         Tiffany Fagg (49^th) – So - but did not run on the track last spring
• ·         Hillari Raemsch (68^th) – So - she ran pretty well in the steeple on the track, finishing 10^th – just out of the money
• ·         Lauren Finley – RS Freshman - did not run in the conference XC and was well back in the pack in the LSC 1500 and 5K track meet, but she had a successful career running for a tiny TAPPS school (Boerne Geneva School) and simply may need a little more time to acclimate to the college running scene – still an interesting prospect




NEWCOMERS

• ·         Bettye Campbell – freshman from Evant – 9^th in the 1A 800 in Austin in both 2011 and 2012, she won the Region IV-1A 800 in 2012 and was the runnerup in 2011
• ·         Katelin Huckabee – Belton – in the strong District 12-5A, she was 2^nd in the 3200 and 3^rd in the 1600
• ·         Erica Saucedo – San Antonio Harlandale – at the District 28-4A meet, she was 3^rd in the 3200 and 4^th in the 1600
• ·         Brianna Wiggins – Killeen Shoemaker – 15^th in the District 12-5A XC – could find no track and field stats

MEN – like the Tarleton women, the men have their top people back on campus and the 2011 squad that finished 6^th in the LSC meet – only 4 points behind WT and just 2 points ahead of TAMU-K – was a very young squad. Tarleton picked up of the premier recruits in the LSC in Dylan Willett of Smithson Valley, so the future looks good for Tarleton. Good enough to move into the top 3? Possibly. They will certainly have more depth than last season, when they only ran 5-7 runners each meet.

LOST FROM LAST SEASON

• ·         Bryan Garcia – after a 49^th place XC finish, he almost scored in the LSC track meet, finishing 10^th in the 10K
• ·         Michael Barrientos – 59^th in the XC meet, he did not run at the track meet in 2012
• ·         Jacob Milles – 61^st in the XC meet, then a terribly disappointing conference track meet, 19^th in the 1500 and 35^th in a huge 5K field

RETURNEES (with their place at the LSC XC meet in parentheses)

• ·         Chase Rathke (13^th) – So - one of the top freshmen in the LSC last fall, he did not run on the track last spring
• ·         Tye Doty (18^th) – So – after a solid XC season, he only placed 14^th in the LSC 5K and 18^th in the 1500 on the track
• ·         Miles Joslin (20^th) – Jr – also scored well at the LSC track meet, finishing 7^th in that late night 10K, which started at 1 a.m. after a long lightning delay
• ·         Brian Cooper (73^rd) – Jr – ran much better in the early XC season before a disappointing 73^rd place finish – he came close to making the 800 finals on the track, finishing in 11^th in the prelims
• ·         Stefan Campos – Jr – did not run XC after a transfer from Texas State, but did run the 800 on the track as the LSC meet, finishing 19^th in the prelims

NEWCOMERS

• ·         Dylan Willett – freshman from Smithson Valley – finished 2^nd in the 4A 3200, plus a 9^th place in the 1600; was ranked #10 in the whole state of Texas in the 3200 and 21^st in the 1600 – a terrific recruit for Tarleton
• ·         Mason Wrobel – freshman from Arlington Lamar – 4^th in the District 4-5A 1600 and 3200
• ·         Jeffrey Currie – freshman from New Waverly – came very close to making the state track meet, as he finished 3^rd in the Region III-2A 1600 and 5^th in the 3200; also 40^th in the 2A XC meet last fall
• ·         Thorne Pettigrew – freshman from Rockwall – after finishing 3^rd in the District 10-4A 800, he almost made it to state as he finished 5^th in the Region II-4A 800; also 52^nd in the 4A XC in 2011
• ·         James Polasek – freshman from Smithson Valley – I did not find track stats on him, but he had a solid XC season, finishing 30^th in the 4A state meet last year