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Cross Country Heads to the West Coast 9-25-04 9/25/2004 The Vanderbilt women’s cross-country team traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., Friday to compete in the Stanford Invitational on Saturday, Sept 25. “This will be a big test for sophomore Ashleigh Wetzel,” Coach Jim Spivey said, “She will be able to see where she stacks up against some of the best runners in the country. With Stanford ranked #1 in the latest NCAA coaches’ poll. Coach Spivey’s goal is to see where she fits in hoping that she will be able to place in the top five at the invitational. “This race will be a great benchmark for her.” Coach Spivey will also be watching closely the continued development of sophomore Lauren Pence and Junior Brittany Sizer. Both women ran times on a hot day at the Commodore Invitational that were similar to the team’s three all-region runners of the previous season. “I would like to see continued improvement, yet knowing that this is just another small step in getting us ready for the SEC Championships in Fayetteville on Oct. 30.” Two of the three all-NCAA regional runners will not race this weekend, and look to sit out the season: All-American junior Erika Schneble and Sophomore Debbie Huss. “Erika is doing a lot better, and ran for 60 minutes last Saturday.” Coach Spivey said. “I just think she is too far behind the curve to throw her into serious training to get her ready in 8 weeks.” Debbie Huss was diagnosed with two stress fractures in her leg. “We caught the stress fractures in the bone above the knee at a very early stage. It looks like we will sit her out this fall, but I think she may be able to start running again in two weeks.” The Stanford Invitational is hosting 30 schools all competing in the 4k race. Vanderbilt looks to finish in the top 7. “My goal is for them to go out hard and have to hang on for dear life over the last 800 meters. This type of race will help them greatly next week at Notre Dame.” The Commodores compete again on Friday October 1st, at the Notre Dame Invitational. |
