CLARION CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS READY FOR 2005 SEASON

The Clarion University men’s and women’s cross country teams under the direction of first-year head coach Daniel Caulfield will get the 2005 season underway Sept. 10 at Thiel.

“Everyone is excited to get the season started,” Caulfield said. “All of our athletes have been working very hard to get ready for the season.”

The Golden Eagles are also excited about the opportunity to run in front of the hometown crowd Oct. 1 when they will take part in the Clarion United Way’s 5K race that is being held in conjunction with the annual Autumn Leaf Festival activities. Clarion will be the lone collegiate team in the competition.

“We thought it was important to run in the community,” Caulfield said. “It has been a while since we have had a home meet. We don’t really have a home course. We want people in Clarion to see how hard these kids work. We just believe this is a good thing for us and a good thing for the community.”

What people should see are two teams that are working very hard to reach their goals this year.

The Clarion women’s team is looking to continue the success it has had over the past few seasons, while the Golden Eagles men’s team is striving to run the best that it can every week.

GOLDEN EAGLE WOMEN AIMING TOWARD CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

The Clarion women’s team has its sights set on the championship season (PSAC’s and NCAA Regional’s), as the Golden Eagles look to continue the success of the past few years.

Clarion has achieved three consecutive Top Six finishes at the PSAC Meet (5^th in 2004, 6^th in 2003, 3^rd in 2002) and four straight Top 10 finishes at the Regionals (7^th in 2004, 6^th in 2003, 2^nd in 2002, 8^th in 2001) while qualifying for the NCAA National Meet in 2002.

“Our goal is to continue the recent success the program has had,” Caulfield said. “That being said, our main focus is to perform well at the championship meets.”

To make sure that goal is achieved, the Golden Eagles will use all of their meets up to the championship season as tune-ups for those meets. With that in mind, Caulfield isn’t very concerned about where Clarion finishes in the regular-season meets.

“Everything is geared for the championship season,” Caulfield said. “We aren’t worried about where we place in September. We are just looking to get better and better until we peak during the championship season. I have seen more than a few national championship teams not win a race until the title race. Peaking at the right time is the only process that leads to you succeeding in running.”

Clarion has to replace two quality seniors from last year’s team including the Golden Eagles first women’s All-American Melissa Terwilliger (17^th at NCAA’s, 6^th at Regionals, 9^th at PSAC’s) and Sarah Rodgers (33^rd at NCAA’s, 32^nd at Regionals).

“Losing them hurts,” Caulfield said. “However, we have some very enthusiastic returning runners who hope to make an impact this season.”

The top three returning runners for Clarion include sophomore Erin Richard, junior Tasha Wheatley and senior Katie Jarzab.

Richard finished 26^th at PSAC’s and 62^nd at Regionals last season. Although, she was the Golden Eagles No. 2 runner in six races last year including the PSAC’s Caulfield said it was a struggle for her at times

“Erin was a very talented runner out of high school who had some tough times as a freshman,” Caulfield said. “I believe she is ready to lead this team in a new direction.”

Wheatley finished 39^th at PSAC’s and 72^nd at Regionals in 2004 and was an NCAA provisional qualifier in the steeplechase in track.

“She is a proven performer,” Caulfield said. “We are looking for good things from her.”

Jarzab, one of two seniors on the team, is the only senior who was a member of Clarion’s 2002 NCAA Qualifying team. That year she finished 19^th at Regionals and 25^th at PSAC’s. Last year, she was 59^th at PSAC’s and 54^th at Regionals.

“Katie brings a lot of experience to the team,” Caulfield said.

Additional key returnees for the Golden Eagles include senior Mary Smith (83^rd at PSAC’s) and juniors Megan Czerwinski (77^th at PSAC’s) and Autumn Shaffer (73^rd at PSAC’s, 96^th at Regionals).

“We also have a few people out for cross country for the first time that have a chance to make an impact including junior Susan Despot,” Caulfield said. 

GOLDEN EAGLE MEN STRIVE TO DO THEIR BEST

The Clarion men’s cross country team is striving to do their best coming off a season that saw them finish 10^th at PSAC’s and 12^th at Regionals.

“We don’t have any different of an outlook for the men’s team than we do for the women’s team,” Caulfield said. “But we do have different goals. We have a smaller men’s pool of talent, but they are no less enthusiastic. For our men, in competition, it is about beating as many teams as we can. We set our goals meet-by-meet with practical goal setting. The men’s team works just as hard as the women’s team.”

The Golden Eagles have three talented returning runners leading the way.

Sophomore Chris Clark was Clarion’s No. 2 runner for most of last season including in the championship season. He finished 53^rd at PSAC’s and 43^rd at Regionals.

“Chris is an Honors Program student who is a very dedicated and disciplined runner,” Caulfield said.

Junior Sean Williams finished 69^th at PSAC’s and 84^th at Regionals.

“Sean is a team leader, one of the co-captains who inspires and motivates his fellow teammates,” Caulfield said.

Senior Matt Reinhold was the No. 3 runner for the Golden Eagles at the championship meets a year ago finishing 62^nd at PSAC’s and 74^th at Regionals.

“After years of injury and illness, I believe Matt is ready to reach his potential,” Caulfield said.

Caulfield is also excited about two incoming runners – one freshman and one transfer.

Freshman Sean McFarland, from Upper Perkiomen High School, has impressed the coaches in the early going.

“He has been very impressive in the first days of practice,” Caulfield said. “He is a very smart athlete.”

Junior Bill Hermann from Centereach, N.Y. via Suffolk County Community College is also figuring into the top four according to Caulfield.

“He finished 25^th at the 2003 National Junior College Cross Country finals,” Caulfield said. “We are looking for him to be one of our top runners.”

Additional key returning runners for Clarion include sophomore Jason South (91^st at Regionals) and sophomore Zack Shekell (97^th at PSAC’s).

CLARION NOTES: Caulfield, a native of Ireland who comes to Clarion from Adams State College in Colorado, replaces Pat Mooney who retired in January after serving 10 ½ years at Clarion coaching the cross county and track programs… Caulfield took over both programs in January… The women’s cross country team was school-best second at NCAA Regionals in 2002 and qualified for the NCAA Division II nationals for the first time in school history that year finishing 20^th… The PSAC meet will be at Slippery Rock this season Oct. 29 with the Regionals at Lock Haven Nov. 5… The national meet will be at Pomona, Calif., Nov. 19 … Clarion’s cross country teams have also had a lot of success in the classroom over the past decade. At least one of Clarion’s teams has been named an All-Academic NCAA Division II Cross Country team every year since 1996 with both teams garnering the award six teams including in each of the past three seasons.