SEASON RECAP: XC Wraps Up Successful Season
Dec 20, 2010 | Cross Country
Dec. 20, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - In 2010, the Tulane cross country squad posted a successful campaign that saw nearly every runner set a new career-best time and many of the rookies on both squads made contributions throughout the season. You can listen to head coach Eric Peterson talk about the 2010 season and the upcoming 2011 Track and Field slate by clicking here.
"I think that we have improved quite a bit as a team and a program," said Tulane head cross country coach Eric Peterson. "Our women's team has made some drastic improvements under the leadership of Rebecca Coady and Julia Whitrock. I think that they did a great job of stabilizing our team and leading, really, at the front of our team in every race."
Coady and Whitrock each earned All-Louisiana honors for the Green Wave, marking the first time since 2007 that multiple harriers were honored by the LSWA, and lead the team in six of the seven races throughout the season. The duo held eight of the team's top ten times in 2010 at the 5K distance. Katherine Crabtree was the only other Green Wave runner finish atop the team standings, placing fifth at the Watson Ford Invitational.
"We also developed a little bit more depth by recruiting some good kids from all over the country," Peterson said. "We had some freshman come in and make some contributions, most notable Callie Turlington, who finished among our top five later in the year. We also benefited a lot from having our sophomores and juniors that got another year of training under their belt and now have a really good focus on what we are trying to do as a program.
Five freshmen competed on the women's side, while Ryan Rigali was the lone newcomer to the men's squad in 2010. Callie Turlington was a top-five performer for the Green Wave at the Conference USA Championships and the NCAA South Central Regional, while Rigali ran in five of the six scheduled meets on the men's side and was a scoring runner in four of them. Tavie Abell, Aimee Arceneaux, Colleen Loughlin and Amanda Savage also compete on the women's side of things.
"Brian Lozes, our leaders from a year ago, had a knee injury early in the season and missed a lot of training and that had a big impact on our squad," said Peterson. "We had 100-percent improvement from our entire team. Max Miller did a great job and our other runners all set new personal bests, some even cutting off three or four minutes, in some instances, at the 8K distance."
The men's squad was a true competition for the top spot all season, with four different runner claiming the team's top honors during the season. Brian Lozes and Max Miller each paced the Olive and Blue twice, while Mike Mainguy and Jordan Vance each led the team once.
Below are some notes on the 2010 season, but a complete release in PDF format can be viewed by clicking here.
LOUISIANA'S FINEST
The Louisiana Sports Writers Association named their annual All-Louisiana Cross Country Team on December 12 and a pair of Tulane Runners were among the honorees.
Rebecca Coady and Julia Whitrock each earned a spot on the All-Louisiana Team, marking the first time since 2007 that Tulane received multiple nods to the All-LSWA squad. Coady also placed second to McNeese State's Tinette Burger for the Louisiana Runner of the Year.
Coady was the top 5K performer for Tulane this season, leading the charge in four of the team's seven races, while Whitrock paced the Olive and Blue twice and was the lone runner to claim an individual crown, winning the LSU Invitational.
THAT'S A WINNER
On Sept. 25, Julia Whitrock covered the 6K course at the LSU Invitational in a season-best time of 20:53.40 to win the individual title at the event in Baton Rouge. This marked the first individual title of the redshirt-sophomore's career and came on her hometown course.
The win gave the Green Wave program at least one individual champion in each of the past two seasons. Rebecca Coady posted that win in 2009 at the Mook 4 Invitational.
A FRESH FEELING
Of the 22 runners to compete for men's and women's program this season, there were six freshman and one first-year participant.
Ryan Rigali was the lone rookie to compete on the men's side of things, running in five the six meets, missing one due to illness, and was a scoring runner in four of his five competitions. He was the lone rookie to compete in the team's first meet of the season, the Georgia Invitational, and was finished as high as 17th overall at the Watson Ford Invitational.
On the women's side, Callie Turlington was the top freshman, finishing among the top seven Tulane runners in all five of her competitions. Turlington was a scoring runner at the Conference USA Championships and the Watson Ford Invitational.
Rookies Aimee Arceneaux and Colleen Loughlin each competed at the Conference USA Championships for the Olive and Blue, while Tavie Abell and Amanda Savage each competed in three meets during the season.
BEST OF THE WEEK
On September 28, Julia Whitrock was honored as the Conference USA Female Runner of the Week after winning the LSU Invitational.
Whitrock set a career-best time on her hometown course, besting her only 6K PR by over a minute, and became the first Tulane runner to earn a weekly honor from C-USA since Aubrey Phillips in 2007.
THE PR
Green Wave runners set new Personal Records in nearly half of the races that were run by returning student-athletes in 2010. On the women's side of things, Tulane competitors posted new personal bests in 21 of 42 races and on the men's side it was 13 of 29 races setting new PR's.
Six of the ten returning women's competitors set multiple PR's this season, with Katherine Crabtree posting a new career-best time in five of the six races she ran in this season. Emmi Aguillard and Rebecca Coady each set there PR twice at the 5K and once at the 6K distance, while Peggy Keplinger and Julia Whitrock each grabbed new personal bests on both the 5K and 6K courses.
Four of the six Green Wave men's performers set multiple season best times, with Max Miller and Jordan Vance each topping their previous best four times in 2010. Brian Lozes and Phil Scruggs each set a new PR's at the 8K and 10K distances.
Of the freshman with more than one race competed in, Ryan Rigali and Callie Turlington each lowered their times during the season, setting new career-best times at the Conference USA Championships in the 8K and 5K races, respectively.
A CHANGE AT THE TOP
The Green Wave men's squad dealt with injury and illness this season, but the team continued to respond with solid performances out of their lineup.
In their six meets this season, Tulane had four different #1 runners. Those four changes at the top came during the first four meets of the season.
Brian Lozes was the lead runner at the Georgia Invitational to open the season, Jordan Vance took the lead at the Crimson Classic, Mike Mainguy paced the squad at the LSU Invitational and Max Miller was the top Wave finisher at the Watson Ford Invitational.
Lozes reclaimed the top spot after missing three meets due to injury, placing 20th at the Chile Pepper Invitational and Miller claimed the team's top finish at the Conference USA Championships, making them the only repeat at the top of the charts on the season.
Top Finisher -- Meet -- Place (Time)
Brian Lozes -- Georgia Invite ^ -- 25th (25:42)
Jordan Vance -- Crimson Classic ^ -- 57th (26:14)
Mike Mainguy -- LSU Invite ^ -- 27th (28:53)
Max Miller -- Watson Ford ^ -- 11th (27:26)
Brian Lozes -- Chile Pepper * -- 205th (33:01)
Max Miller -- C-USA Champs ^ -- 40th (26:19)
^ - 8K Race, * - 10K Race
IT WAS A TEAM EFFORT
It hadn't happened since 2007 and, with their two best runners not competing, it wasn't expected. The "it" was a team title at an invitational and even as the runners began to cross the finish line, it looked as if the Green Wave would finish among the top teams.
Southern Miss was primed to take the team title as they had the first three runners to cross the finish line.
Tulane, however, endured as Crabtree was fifth overall, Aguillard placed seventh and Keplinger was ninth. Johanna Gretschel cross the finish line in 11th and Turlington placed 12th to give Tulane all five scoring runners across the finish line before the Golden Eagles could scratch their fourth runner passed the checkered line.
That gave Tulane 44 points and when USM's final two runners finished in 15th and 25thit gave Tulane a two-point victory.
It marked the first team championship for the women's program since the 2007 season. In `07, Tulane won three events, last winning the LSU Invitational on Sept. 22 in Baton Rouge.
HE'S THE MAINGUY
Junior Mike Mainguy earned his second straight selection to the Conference USA All- Academic Cross Country team in 2010.
The Neuroscience major carries a 3.944 GPA and was a main cog in the Tulane line-up this season. He led the team at the LSU Invitational and placed 51st at the C-USA Championships.
Mainguy has been a member of the Tulane 3.0 Club and earned C-USA Commissioners Honor Roll his first two years on campus. He earned Academic All-Conference in Cross Country and garnered the accolade in Track and Field last season, while earning the Conference USA Commissioners Medal of Honor.
THE SENIOR CLASS
The women's program will graduate three runners from this season's team, with Coady, Caitlin Hornbeck and Keplinger all exhausting their eligibility in the spring.
Coady was a two-time All-Louisiana selection and owns the school record in the steeplechase on the track. She also set a career-best time in the 5K at the C-USA Championships and in the 6K at the LSU Invitational this year.
Hornbeck ran her PR in the 6k at the LSU Invitational this season, while setting her career best in the 5K at the C- USA Championships in 2009. Keplinger returned for her senior season and posted new top marks in both the 5K and 6K. She set her 5K mark at the Crimson Classic and ran a career-best 6K at the LSU Invitational.
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
During the fall, two of the cross country runners earned Tulane's Student-Athlete of the Week Honors. Junior Mike Mainguy and redshirt-junior Julia Whitrock each earned the honor.
Mainguy was awarded the distinction after earning his second straight nod to the Conference USA All-Academic squad, while Whitrock earned her accolade after winning the LSU Invitational.
Mainguy carries a 3.944 in Neuroscience, while Whitrock is a 3.251 student in the Political Science program.
HEY THERE JUNIOR
The men's team will return all seven student-athletes next season, with this years squad comprised of four juniors, two sophomores and one freshman.
Jordon Holtzman, Lozes, Mainguy and Miller were all juniors, while Phil Scruggs and Vance competed as sophomores and Rigali was the lone rookie in 2010.
--www.TulaneGreenWave.com---Players Mentioned
