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August 31, 2011
Lady Tigers set out to defend national title
Following up the program’s first-ever national championship will be no easy feat, but the Cowley College women’s cross country team hopes to contend for another title.
Counting the national championship, the Lady Tigers won six of the eight meets they competed at last season, and became the first NJCAA women’s cross country program to win a conference title, region title, national championship, and half marathon in the same season.
However, Cowley will need to have runners step up to make up for the loss of first-team All-Americans Purity Cheruiyot and Kaitlyn Belisle.
Mark Phillips, who coached the team from 2003-2007 prior to becoming the team’s assistant coach each of the past three seasons, returns to the role of head coach.
With three returning sophomores and six freshmen, Phillips is optimistic about the 2011 season.
“We have a young but talented group,” Phillips said. “In junior college it is a constant turnover of the roster.”
Highlighting the list of returnees is Jessalyn Lanoy. Lanoy had a solid freshman season and earned all-region honors and placed 29th at the national meet. Fellow sophomore Maria Schmidt also came on strong toward the end of last year and placed 23rd in the region, while Trenda McClaughry gained valuable experience as a freshman.
All four of the Lady Tiger recruits from Kansas (Katilyn Dispensa, Valerie Nielson, Kelly Roberts, Julia Stafford) had successful high school careers and an opportunity to compete at this summer’s Shrine Bowl in Hays. Cowley also added Lindsay Johnson from Owasso, OK, and Konnie Zuniga from Rio Rico, AZ to the squad.
“Winning the national championship really helped us in recruiting,” Phillips said.
Phillips expects there to be less of a gap between his top runner and last runner.
“This is a neat group of girls that will work well together,” Phillips said.
Zuniga was a four-time Southern Arizona all-state qualifier and helped her high school team capture two state titles. Along with being a two-time Southern Arizona cross country region/sectional individual champion, she holds her high school’s track records in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200-meter runs.
Another new addition to the squad is assistant coach Kevin McDougal, who returns to Cowley after being an All-American runner at the school in 2002.
“I wouldn’t have hired Kevin if I didn’t trust his ability to train kids,” Phillips said. “I am excited to have him back at Cowley.”
Cowley will open the season Saturday at the Wichita State Classic held in Augusta. The meet will begin at 9 a.m.
Phillips expects the team to be in the hunt for conference and region titles and to have a shot at placing among the top-three teams at nationals.
“We need to stay healthy and not worry about the target on our back,” Phillips said.
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