Staying healthy over the course of the 2016 season is going to be key for the John Brown University women's cross country team, according to fourth-year coach Scott Schochler.
The Golden Eagles, coming off of a fourth-place finish in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships last year -- open their season Sept. 2 at the Bearcat Invitational at Southwest Baptist (Mo.) in Bolivar, Mo.
"If we can keep them healthy and consistently healthy, they're going to have some better performances I think," Schochler said. "I think that's key for all our women right now."
The Golden Eagles feature 10 runners on the roster, including two seniors, four juniors and four sophomores.
JBU does not have any freshman on this year's team.
Schochler said the Golden Eagles were in discussion with a lot of high-level freshmen recruits that all chose to go elsewhere.
On the roster, JBU only lists one senior in Abbie Melby, but Schochler said junior Annie Brown will graduate in December and this fall will be her last season to run.
Brown didn't have as good a 2015 season as had been expected, Schochler said.
He pointed to Brown's running the marathon in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in the spring of 2015, where she placed 38th overall.
"I think it took so much out of her, and she didn't have a great performance until the conference meet (in November)," Schochler said. "She didn't run the marathon this year and she's had a good summer. I'm hoping this year she's back to where we had hoped. We're expecting her to be our No. 1 runner."
Melby, the other senior, has struggled with injuries most of her college career.
"She'll have one or two solid races every season and then gets bit by the injury bug," Schochler said. "I'm hoping her final year we'll get some things figured out. We're going to try and take things easy with her in the first half of the season, hold back a little and see what we can do for the conference meet."
The Golden Eagles are hoping for good performances from juniors Kaitlyn Collier, Abigail Danley, Erin Haley and Jennifer Poole.
Schochler said the Golden Eagles know what to expect out of Collier every weekend.
"But we still haven't had a breakout performance from her yet," he said. "She's trained all summer and trained great all spring. She's the one that always keeps the team laughing, doing something crazy. That's one of the great things about her for our team."
Danley has been overseas all summer, Schochler said.
"Her first half may be a little off, but we hope she's running well at the end of the season. She could be a solid No. 5 or No. 6 for us. By the end of the season, I think she'll be where we need her to be."
The Golden Eagles had big expectations for Haley when they recruited her three years ago.
"I think this year may be the year where those work out," Schochler said. "By end of the year she'll be running really well and set some big PRs."
Poole is the wild card of the women's team, Schochler said.
"She could be up there with the top two or three and she's done that at some meets in the past," he said. "But she's struggled with injury issues at times."
If Poole is healthy she can be one of the top three or four runners on the team.
"She's competitive as can be, hates to get beat," Schochler said. "Hopefully she's healthy and we can get some good performances."
Sophomores Carly Coney, Erin Green, Haley Newcomb and Reagan Roth are expected to make a big contribution.
"I think the freshmen we had last year who are sophomores now, there's a couple of them who are going to be real strong," Schochler said. "Carley Coney and Reagan Roth, both of them had solid freshman years. From the training they did last spring and summer, I think they're going to be very good this fall."
Reagan was the Golden Eagles' No. 1 runner at times last season and No. 2 at most meets.
"She's competitive in workouts, which is great," Schochler said. "I think she's going to have a big fall. Her and Annie and Carly, they could trade off that No. 1 spot all season."
Coney was a little inexperienced in cross country coming into last season but has made the adjustment and had a solid spring and summer, Schochler said.
"She looks very fit," he said. "She's excited about the season. I think she could drop some significant time in her PR. Her and Annie and Reagan -- all three of them can push each other in workouts."
Green is another who was new to cross country and just needs to keep gaining experience.
"If we can keep her running and keep her training volume up, she'll be in a good place by the end of this fall," Schochler said.
Newcomb struggled with injuries as a freshman.
"She's going to be running well if she's healthy," Schochler said.
Sports on 08/24/2016