SAINTS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS PEAKING AT RIGHT MOMENT

The Mt. Hood Saints cross country program had a rough start to the season, but is fast picking up the pace.

Several runners set new personal bests when the Saints women and men ran in the Warner Pacific XC Classic, held in Lents Park in Southeast Portland on Oct. 13.

Just weeks ago, MHCC had only four men compete, and no women, in their first scheduled meet, the NWAC Preview at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington – the very same course where they’ll compete for the NWAC championships a month from now.

It was a bummer for the rest of the runners who didn’t get the chance to race and get a feel for that course. But it was a decision from co-head coaches Fernando Fantroy and Kelly Holding to hold out both the men and women.

“We just felt the ladies weren’t quite ready when the first meet came around. At the time, we only had three ladies on the roster,” said Holding. (A team of five is required for team scores to count.)

Meantime, Fantroy said, “The rest of the guys didn’t show up to practice until later in the summer. So, coach Holding and I felt that they didn’t have enough training yet.”

Indeed, it wasn’t a pretty meet, as Saints freshman Tyler Tenny finished with a time of 29:06.36 minutes and the rest of the guys – Tim Lottis, Collin Humphreys and Micah Grandara – finished with times of 31:49.93, 32:23.18 and 33:37.63.

It wasn’t a great start. Tenny told the Advocate last month that he was excited but also nervous at that first meet. As a freshman, it was his first collegiate meet and his body was accustomed to running 5Ks, not 8K races. He also had mixed emotions because many other NWAC schools were going to be in Lacey, as well as NCAA Division II schools.

Asked what his season goal was, he said, “If I could get under 28 minutes that would be really good – and get maybe Top 20 (finish) in the championships.”

Now, with two meets remaining, Tenny has already crushed his time goal, achieved last weekend at the Warner Pacific event. He finished the race with an impressive time of 26:58.30. But he wasn’t the only one that had a great race. The top five Saints men are all under 30 minutes now and looking to cut their marks even more as the NWAC championships are creeping closer.

At Lents, sophomore Dyrrel Francisco finished with a time of 27:40.50. Sophomore Chris Garcia had a great race, too, as he came from trailing Emanuel Ibarra and Humphreys to finish just in front of them with a time of 28:22.0. Ibarra and Humphreys followed at 28:29.30 and 28:30.10.

Women coming on

The Saints women have been getting the job done, as well. At first, the team was consisted of only freshman Christa Anderson, sophomore Amber Herman and freshman Hana Alvarez. Though Anderson and Herman were the first to be at practice during the summer, they both were coming back from one-year injuries. Alvarez hadn’t incorporated herself into the team until later that summer.

“We were both a little disappointed that we couldn’t go (at the NWAC Preview meet) because it just limits our, like, opportunities to achieve our goals,” said Herman.

“Yeah, we only have five meets total and that first is gone,” added Anderson.

The two listed their goals, going into their first meet: The Charles Bowles Invitational meet held in Salem on Sept. 29. Anderson wanted to run the women’s 5K in under 23 minutes, while Herman simply wanted to see where she stood. (Keep in mind that in the collegiate level, men run 8 kilometers, but the women stay at the same 5 kilometers they ran in high school.) Anderson went on to finish with a time of 22:38 and Amber with a time of 25:34.

Last week at the Warner Pacific XC Classic, they improved their times once again. Anderson finished at 21:20.40, crushing her high school personal best of 21:52. Herman also improved her time, to 23:22.70. Alvarez finished at 22:57.20, nearing her personal best of 22:32.

Coaches Fantroy and Holding have added sophomore Faith Richards and freshman Addison Werner, both from the Saints track and field team, to meet the five-member team minimum to compete at the NWAC Championships. At Lents, Richards had a great race and finished not far behind Anderson with a time of 21:24.90. Werner ran the course in 28:04.20.

The Saints have this weekend off, but continue to prepare for the Mike Hodges Invitational on Oct. 27, set for 11 a.m. at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.