Sept. 2, 2016
Event: Belmont Opener
Day, Date: Saturday, Sept. 3
Host: Belmont University
Site: Percy Warner Park
Start Times: Women’s 5k: 9 a.m. l Men’s 5k: 9:40 a.m.
Directions to the course: HERE
Results: HERE
The Vanderbilt women and men open the season this weekend, competing in the Belmont Opener at Percy Warner Park. The Vanderbilt women enter this season with high expectations and lofty goals. The Commodores, who have captured back-to-back NCAA South Region titles, will be looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the sixth consecutive year. This weekend, the Vanderbilt teams will be in familiar territory at Percy Warner Park, which serves as the home course for both Belmont and Vanderbilt. (The Commodores’ official home opener is Sept. 17). Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s race:
l Very visible: The Vanderbilt women enter the season opener with impressive credentials. The USTFCCA has the Commodores ranked No. 2 in the South Region and No. 28 in the nation. In the annual preseason SEC coaches’ poll, Vanderbilt was projected for a second-place finish. On the men’s side, VU was picked 13th in the conference.
l Scouting the field: This weekend’s meet will include a host of in-state rivals for the Commodores, with eight teams from Tennessee competing in the field. The list, which features 10 teams in the women’s race and nine on the men’s side, includes: Austin Peay, Belmont, Chattanooga (men only), Lipscomb, Murray State, Nashville Harriers (unattached), Rhodes, Tennessee St. and Trevecca Nazarene. Vanderbilt
l Scheduled to run for Vanderbilt: The Commodores are slated to have 21 athletes wearing the black and gold this weekend. Scheduled to run for Vanderbilt on the women’s side are: Reagan Anderson, Reagan Bustamante, Maddie Criscione, Kendall Derry, Devon Grisbaum, Megan Huebner, Ginger Hutton, Courtney Kreigshauser, Lauren Moffett, Mailin Struck and Sarah Tsai. On the men’s side, it will be: Dan Arthur, Caleb Casolaro, Sam DeFabrizio, Waqqas Fazili, Nikos Gkotsis, Andrew Irvine, Evan Suzman, Harrison Thomas, Jake Van Geffen and Jason Vincze.
l Making their debut: This weekend’s meet represents the first collegiate action for six freshmen on the Vanderbilt roster: Reagan Bustamante, Kendall Derry, Lauren Moffett and Mailin Struck on the women’s side, along with Andrew Irvine and Harrison Thomas on the men’s side.
l Looking back to last year: At last season’s Belmont Opener, the Vanderbilt women ran to a second-place finish with 44 points, finishing behind only Lipscomb (32 points). Caroline Pietrzyk paced the Commodores, finishing second overall at 17:24.3, which was just seventh-tenth of a second behind meet champion Hannah Wittman of Belmont. Vanderbilt’s Vanessa Valentine was 11th at 18:00.0 and Reagan Anderson was 12th at 18:00.3. For the Vanderbilt men, Jason Vincze took 19th overall with a time of 16:06.8 to lead the Commodores, who earned an impressive fourth-place finish. Vanderbilt’s Jake Van Geffen took 21st at 16:09.5 and Nikolaos Gkotsis took 22nd at 16:09.7.
l Quoting the coaches: Here’s what head coach Steve Keith and first-year assistant coach Rebekah Smeltzer, who is debuting with the Commodores on Saturday, had to say about the meet.
Head coach Steve Keith:
On the importance of this weekend’s race: “Every race has different significance throughout the season, with this first race serving as an assessment of fitness and refresher as to what it is to race as a team. I like to think of it as flipping a competitive switch with everything geared toward our championship races later in the season.”
On the mindset of his team: “There’s no pressure in this first one and definitely more excitement as this gets things going. We look for the upperclassmen to lead and set the routine for this first race.”
Assistant coach Rebekah Smeltzer:
On the excitement of her first meet as part of the Vanderbilt coaching staff: “This Saturday is going to be a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to seeing how we choose to commit to the process, find our teammates and compete together to the end. I’ve really enjoyed watching the team really rally around each other to get the most out of each workout’s objective. That in and of itself is very exciting because it shows a lot of maturity from a predominantly young team and will undoubtedly help as we prepare for the championship portion of our season.”
On the senior leadership of the team. “Having a strong network of upperclassmen is very important to our culture and our continued success. The seniors have brought a lot of experience, maturity and perspective to the team. Their input and feedback has really helped ease the learning curve that the first segment of the season presents. I can’t say enough about what a remarkable job the seniors have done in creating positive workout experiences for the underclassmen.”
