Aug. 30, 2012
NASHVILLE — “How do you remember and forget at the same time?”
That sums up Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith’s attitude as he enters the 2012 women’s cross country season with the defending SEC Champions and a squad that finished sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2011.
Keith knows he must balance expectations to win alongside the fact that each team needs to have its own identity.
As they look to repeat last year’s success, a trio of runners who earned All-SEC honors will lead Vanderbilt. All three will be pivotal in looking to offset the losses of Alexa Rogers, the program’s first All-American in 2011, and Louise Hannallah.
Liz Anderson was a first team selection after finishing fourth at the SEC Championships. She followed that up with a 43rd place finish at the NCAA Championships, just missing All-America honors (top 40) by a few seconds.
Anderson will be looking for a little hometown magic this season, as the 2012 NCAA Championships will be held in her native Louisville, Ky.
Joining Anderson on the first team was Jordan White. The senior was seventh at the conference championships while shattering her personal best time with a mark of 20:42.48. White also earned a top-10 finish at the NCAA South Regional to help Vanderbilt earn its first ever trip to the NCAA Championships.
Anderson and White were both named to the SEC Women’s Cross Country Watch List, released earlier today.
Kristen Smith was Vanderbilt’s third returning All-SEC honoree, taking second team accolades after a fifth-place finish at the SEC Championships. The Michigan State transfer posted her top 5K time of the season at that race (20:51.62).
In addition to the three All-SEC honorees, the Commodores return three more runners who were in the top-30 at the league meet. Grace Orders, Rebecca Chandler and Amira Joseph each earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
Also look for junior Kristen Findley and freshman Lily Williams to be among the top runners for Vanderbilt in 2012.
What does all that mean for Keith’s expectations?
“You don’t want to not use last year as motivation, but every year you’ve got a new dynamic and you have to define your team,” Keith said. “We’ve got four seniors and they’ve been very active and they want a chance to put their new mark on something they’ve started to build.
As for this season, Keith knows he has a potentially great runner in Anderson, but feels White could be the proverbial “x-factor”.
“Having Jordan as a fifth-year kid in the program is huge,” Keith said. “The last two years in cross country, she has driven the train. She’s been the one everyone else focuses on to get into a good position. She’ll work the early-middle of the race.”
Keith also thinks the Smith-Findley duo, which the coaching staff collectively refers to as “The Kristens,” could be a major factor.
“You look at the Kristens and they both had really nice springs,” Keith said. “They dropped their times in track dramatically (in 2012).”
As for the newcomers, Keith thinks Lily Williams will be able to contribute by the end of the season.
“She was a Foot Locker finalist and ran 4:42 in the mile,” Keith said. “She’s got all the tools. She is coming off a long high school season, so we’ll expect her to jump into the mix a little bit later.”
Just the fact that Vanderbilt does not have to rely on freshmen shows how far the program has come.
“Just the fact that freshmen can come in and surprise you one way or the other,” Keith said. “But, the ability of the upperclassmen to come in and carry the load is great. It allows each freshman class to relax and go at their own schedule.”
The Commodores will begin working towards their goal of a repeat on Friday, August 31, when they run in the Belmont Opener at Nashville’s Percy Warner Park.
Vanderbilt will also host its annual Commodore Classic at Percy Warner on Saturday, September 15. The Classic should have one of the best fields in history, as several SEC teams are expected to use the race as a preview of the conference championships.
The 2012 SEC Championships will be held at Percy Warner on Friday, October 26.