2002 Alabama Women's Cross Country Season Preview
9/6/2002 12:00:00 AM
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The 2002 Cross Country season promises to be a productive one for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Head cross country coach Steve Keith, in his second year with the Crimson Tide goes into this season with 10 athletes on his roster.
“We’ll run as many athletes as we can in the early season meets, before we pare it down to the top-seven or so,” Keith said. “Everyone will have a chance to show what they can do before we hit the championship season.”
Junior Virnetta Greene, a native of Birmingham, Ala., had a breakthrough season in 2001, leading the Tide for much of the season. Greene continued to improve through the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons and should continue to flourish after a good summer of training.
“Virnetta had a great track season, staying healthy and making some real strides,” Keith said. “This summer she did all her mileage and comes out of the summer feeling really strong.”
Alabama also returns senior Katie Kelly of Alpharetta, Ga. and junior Kara Nowak of Columbus, Ind., who should provide depth as well as leadership for a squad that counts more than half its roster in the freshman (five) and sophomore (two) class.
The sophomore duo of Ashley Roberts, a Jasper, Ala. native, and Tricia Bohan, a Ft. Wayne, Ind. native, both have a chance to contribute this year after strong off-seasons.
“Both Ashley and Tricia had a good summer of training,” Keith said. “I was very happy with the mileage they put in. For Tricia last season in particular was a transition year, and I think she’ll be in a much better position this year.”
Keith added five freshmen to the Tide’s lineup, bolstering not just the Tide’s numbers, but its talent level as well. Jaclyn Louis led her high school team to the Ohio large school state championship in cross country and a No. 11 national ranking. Blair Davis led Mountain Brook High School to the State 6A Championship while Emily Green led Scottsboro high school to the State 5A Championship.
“We’ve brought in a freshman class that has a championship pedigree and comes to us with championship expectations,” Keith said.
Freshmen Meghan Bates from Tullahoma, Tenn., Davis from Birmingham, Ala. and Green from Scottsboro, Ala. come to the Tide with a lot of ability. The key for all three this season will be development. And while Keith has brought in a number of athletes more geared to competing in the 800m during the track seasons than cross country, Louis bucks the trend.
“Jaclyn has a pretty good cross country reputation,” Keith said. “In truth, her background is geared more to cross country than track and field.
Freshman Nicole Abram, coming from Gotha, Germany, has a tremendous upside and could be in the Tide’s top-5 by the time the championship season rolls around.
“For Nicole, the key is going to be how quickly she can make the transition,” Keith said. “If things go well, I think she can really help us by the end of the year.”
“There is a lot of potential on this squad, among the freshmen,” Keith said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they all adapt to the college environment.”
The women will start the season at the Belmont Invitational September 6 in Nashville, Tenn. and then come back on Sept. 20 for the Crimson Classic, which will be held on the Harry Pritchett Golf Course. The SEC Championships are Nov. 4 in Gainesville, Fla. while the NCAA South Regional will be held in Knoxville on Nov. 16 and the NCAA Championship will be held Nov. 25 in Terre Haute, Ind.
