Thursday September 2, 2010 6:07 PM Posted by staff
WACO, Texas - Baylor's cross country teams begin the season hosting the Bear Twilight Invitational on Friday, Sept. 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Baylor Intramural Fields in Waco, Texas.
This year's edition will feature a host of regional competition, including TCU, SMU, Texas State, North Texas and UTA, along with non-Division I opponents UT-Tyler, Arkansas-Fort Smith, Dallas Baptist, Angelo State, Southwestern, Paul Quinn and Incarnate Word.
Baylor's women return a solid group, and with the addition of key newcomers, begin their quest of reaching the program's eighth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance. After finishing second in last season's NCAA South Central Regional, they will start the season ranked fourth the preseason regional rankings. Meanwhile, the Baylor men, who finished seventh at the regional meet and start the season regionally ranked seventh, will be looking to show they can be a contender for a berth to nationals with a veteran group of runners.
For the women, the familiar faces of All-Americans Erin Bedell, Nichole Jones and Danielle Bradley are gone, but veteran senior leaders Katie Shaw, Leigh Ann Ganzar and Lauren Simpson will join experienced junior Cate Westenhover, Sam Patty and Kristen Hanselka to lead the team. Newcomer Robyn Bennett joins the Bears as a former Australian national champion and will help provide depth to the squad.
Westenhover shined at the NCAA South Central Regional last season, coming across the tape as the second Baylor finisher and 10th overall with a time of 21:23.4 to help lead the Lady Bears to a second-place team finish. Westenhover was the top finisher at the Ken Garland Invitational with a fifth-place finish, while Kristen Hanselka paced BU at the Chile Pepper Festival with a 49th-place finish.
On the men's side, the makeup of the squad mirrors the women with a solid group of juniors and seniors, along with underclassmen with the potential to contribute. Senior Robbie Knorr returns a year after lead the Bears as the top BU finisher in all five events, including an individual victory at the Bear Twilight Invitational.
Seniors Jeff Sadler and Ben Haby provide experience with a quartet of juniors that includes Brandon Reed, Brandon White, Zac Flowers and Logan Roberts. Sadler was the second BU finisher in four of five events in 2009 with a second-place finish at the Bear Twilight Invite.
Newcomers to the men's squad include Baylor track standout Gavyn Nero and freshman Brad Miles. Nero competed in track and field as a freshman last spring, earning all-Big 12 honors in the middle distances. Miles, who enters his first semester at Baylor, is a former Foot Locker Northeast Regional Cross Country champion.
The 2010 Bear Twilight Invitational is set to begin with the women's race at 6:30 p.m., with the men's race to follow. The meet will take place at the Baylor Intramural Fields located across LaSalle Ave. to the east of the Ferrell Center on the Baylor University campus.
NEW ORLEANS - The Baylor women's cross country program had three members named to the USTFCCCA all-academic award list for their efforts on the course and in the classroom as announced on Tuesday by association officials.
Seniors Erin Bedell and Danielle Bradley, along with sophomore Cate Westenhover each met the standard criteria for inclusion for the award. The award honors those student-athletes who have succeeded both academically and athletically. To be eligible for the award a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.25 cumulative grade point average and must finish among the top 15 finishers (or top 10 percent) of the field at their respective NCAA regional meet.
Bedell, a Plano, Texas, native majoring in health science/pre-physical therapy, was the top finisher for the second-place Bears at the NCAA South Central Regional meet with a third-place finish. Westenhover, a journalism major from Austin, Texas, was next in line for BU with a 10th-place finish. Bradley, from West Palm Beach, Fla., and majoring in health-science/pre-med, came in next in 12th place.
The 104 USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees represent 57 schools around the country. The Big Ten, Big 12, and BIG EAST Conferences each had 15 representatives claim the honor.
The award honors those student-athletes who have succeeded both academically and athletically. To be eligible for the award a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.25 cumulative grade point average and must finish among the top 15 finishers (or top 10 percent) of the field at their respective NCAA regional meet.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Baylor's women's cross country team finished in 28th place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday morning in Terre Haute, Ind.
Baylor finished the team race with 666 points, while Villanova took the team title with 86 total points. The team from the Big 12 was Texas Tech, which finished fourth with 191 points. Iowa State placed 17th at 446 and Colorado was 20th at 458. Individually, Illinois' Angela Bizzari placed first overall, covering the 6,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 46.8 seconds.
For Baylor, senior Erin Bedell was the top finisher, placing 57th with a time of 21:00.4. Senior Nichole Jones was the next to cross the line for the Bears in 145th with a time of 21:37.
Sophomore Cate Westenhover placed 196th at 22:03 and senior Danielle Bradley placed 198th at 22:05. Rounding out the top five was freshman Stephanie Morgan in 219th with a time of 22:25.
Freshman Katie Barry placed 236th (22:52) and junior Katie Shaw was 247th (23:18).
WACO, Texas - Making their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Baylor's women's cross country team will compete in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 23, with the women's race set for 11:58 a.m. CT. Each race will be nationally televised on the Versus Network beginning with the men's race at 11:08 a.m. CT. The NCAA will also be streaming the event live on the web at NCAA.com.
Led by the senior trio of All-American Erin Bedell, Nichole Jones, and Danielle Bradley, the Bears will look to improve on last year's 19th-place team finish. Baylor is fresh off of a second-place showing at the NCAA South Central Regional in which all five top finishers earned all-region honors. Along with Bedell, Jones, and Bradley, sophomore Cate Westenhover and freshman Stephanie Morgan stepped up to earn the honor as well.
Entering the regional meet, Baylor's only hope to keep the string of six consecutive NCAA Championships appearances alive was to finish in the top two in the team standings. With SMU and Arkansas each feeling the same pressure, the Bears responded with five runners placing in the top 15. Led by Bedell's third-place finish, the Bears scored 54 points, 11 behind SMU, but 12 ahead of Arkansas.
"To me that's a pretty big deal (to make seven in a row)," head coach Todd Harbour said. "This isn't an easy championship to make, and it looked like there for awhile that we weren't going to be able to pull it off. They knew what they had to do. It was an amazing regional meet with three teams going for it. Arkansas and us had to just get it done. They ran well and we were just a little bit better."
Bedell, who earned All-America honors at last year's NCAA Championship, has found her stride in 2009. She has led the Bears in each of the last three races, including an all-conference performance at the Big 12 Championships. Former track All-Americans Bradley and Jones have each been in the Bears' top five in every race this season, along with Morgan. Westenhover, on the other hand, has progressed with each meet this season, culminating in a 10th-place finish at the regional meet.
"We ran very well at the regional race, and it still wasn't our best," Harbour said. "We feel like we can run a little better than that, hopefully we put it together at nationals. Right now, we are pretty much as healthy as we can be, and I think we are ready to go. We are excited and we don't every take this opportunity for granted. We want to get up there and end this season on a good note."
Four Big 12 women's cross country teams and five men's teams have qualified for the NCAA Championships. Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State and Texas Tech will compete in the women's race while Colorado, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas will run on the men's side. Eight individual student-athletes from non-qualifying teams were also selected to compete at the national level.
Saturday November 14, 2009 7:58 PM Posted by staff
WACO, Texas - Baylor's women's cross country had five earn all-region honors, combining for a second-place team finish at the NCAA South Central Regional on Saturday at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas.
"We are just excited to be making the trip back to Terre Haute. Overall it was a really good day. The guys ended on a good note and the ladies will be ready to get back to work on Monday. But, we are going to enjoy this one this afternoon."
All five Baylor women finished in the top 15 places, led by a third-place finish from All-American Erin Bedell. The Bears finished the meet with 54 points, just 11 behind regional champion SMU, but 12 ahead of third-place Arkansas. With the second-place finish, Baylor earned one of two automatic bids available to the top two teams at each regional, securing their seventh straight trip to the NCAA Championships.
"The women are excited," head coach Todd Harbour said. "It was a great joy for the girls and how hard they worked and what they were able to overcome was great. It was a tight battle all the way and we were just able to get ahead of Arkansas."
Bedell covered the 6,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 1.9 seconds, 31 second off the pace of regional champion Silje Fjortoft of SMU. Bedell earned the third all-region honor of her career. Behind Bedell, sophomore Cate Westenhover had a breakout performance, finishing in 10th place with a time of 21:22.8 to earn the first all-region honor of her career. Senior Danielle Bradley was next for the Bears in 12th (21:26.5) earning her second all-region honors, while senior Nichole Jones earned her fourth all-region honor with a 14th-place finish at 21:32.6. Freshman Stephanie Morgan also earned all-region honors with a 15th-place finish in a time of 21:33.1.
We had some girls that stepped up big today," Harbour said. "Stephanie, a freshman, had a great race in only her second 6K. That was amazing. It was a big day for Cate Westenhover, and we were excited about that."
On the men's side, Baylor finished in seventh place as a team, with four top-50 finishes and a 29th-place finish by junior Robbie Knorr. Despite not earning a berth to the NCAAs, the Baylor men improved three places on last season's 10th-place regional finish.
"The guys had a good meet, very solid," Harbour said. "They ended the season on a good note finishing in seventh."
Knorr just missed all-region honors, which go to the top 25 finishers in each race, with his 29th-place finish. He covered the men's 10,000-meter course in 32:25.0, while senior Chris Gowell was seven spots back in 36th with a time of 32:43.4. Junior Jeff Sadler was 43rd with a time of 33:03.4, while sophomore Brandon Reed placed 49th in a time of 33:15.2. Sophomore Zac Flowers rounded out the top five for Baylor in 61st place with a time of 33:32.1
"Chris Gowell ended on a great note, and Robbie had a good race for the guys," Harbour said.
Baylor's women will continue their season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships hosted annually in Terre Haute, Ind. The meet is scheduled for Nov. 23, 2009.
