Report by LBSU
The Long Beach State men’s and women’s cross country teams begin the 2009 season this Saturday at the 25th annual Fullerton Season Opener hosted by Cal State Fullerton. The women’s 6K race is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, while the men’s 8K will begin a half-hour later. Both races will take place at the Fullerton Golf Course in Fullerton.
“I’m very excited about the upcoming season,” said second year distance coach Patrick Cunniff. “We have two teams that are almost completely different places, both of which have a lot of possibilities.”
In the Big West Conference pre-season coaches poll released last week, the 49er women were picked to finish in seventh place with 33 points, while the men’s squad were picked to finish in sixth with 32 points. UC Riverside were the favorites on the women’s side to repeat as conference champions as the Highlanders tallied 70 points and four place votes. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Cal Poly were tabbed as favorites as the Mustangs received 64 points and eight first-place votes.
Last year, the women’s team were victorious in two of their meets as the 49ers won the Fullerton Season Opener and the Santa Clara Invitational, but finished in sixth at the Big West Championships in Riverside and 11th at NCAA West Regional. The men’s squad finished in second at last year’s Fullerton Opener and won the Santa Clara meet as well, but finished in fifth at the Big West Championship and 15th at Regionals.
After losing three of the top four female runners to graduation, the 49er women return only one senior and welcome eight newcomers to the team. Junior Jennifer Rodriguez and sophomore Alisia Barajas will be looked upon to led The Beach with strong performances for the upcoming campaign. The 49ers will also be supported by the addition of Elisabeth Ramos (San Diego) and Anne Randall (Saugus)
“For the women, a lot of what we do is going to be of some of the girls who sat out last year, some people who sat out injured but are now healthy and the impact of some of our newcomers such as Elisabeth and Anne,” added Cunniff. “We also get a huge boost from Jennifer who made great strides and has greatly improved herself over the last year after redshirting last season.”
The men’s team will field one of its strongest squads since the 2005 season when the 49ers finished in third. The Beach will be led by top returners senior Dylan Jaedtke and juniors Travis Kuhlman and Steven DeCastro. Jaedtke who redshirted last year, will be looking to led LBSU after finishing in 13th at the 2007 Big West Championships. Kuhlman and DeCastro showed solid performances at last year’s Big West Championships as both finished in the Top 50. Sophomores Matt Maldonado and Raul Arcos join Jaedtke, Kuhlman and DeCastro at the front of the pack.
“Our men’s team will be one of the strongest teams ever,” said Cunniff. “For the first time in two years, we’re actually becoming a mature group in terms of the years the guys are running. We’ll have two fifth-year seniors that will be running as well as a number of juniors. Even some of our sophomores got a fair amount of experience between cross country and track last year. So our men’s team will have some experience that will be competitive.”
2009 BIG WEST CONFERENCE PRE-SEASON POLLS
WOMEN
1. UC Riverside (4) — 70 points
2. UC Davis (2) — 68 points
3. Cal Poly (2) — 66 points
4. Cal State Fullerton — 54 points
5. UC Santa Barbara — 48 points
6. UC Irvine — 39 points
7. LONG BEACH STATE — 33 points
8. Cal State Northridge — 17 points
9. Pacific — 10 points
MEN
1. Cal Poly (8) — 64 points
2. UC Santa Barbara — 50 points
3. UC Riverside — 49 points
4. UC Davis — 42 points
5. LONG BEACH STATE — 32 points
6. UC Irvine — 25 points
7. Cal State Fullerton — 18 points
8. Cal State Northridge — 8 points
( ) First-place votes