The members of the women’s and men’s cross country teams have found themselves in a likely position heading into the season. Both are looking to finish near the top of the conference, a common goal amongst most athletes, but it is the journey there that sets them apart.

Men

The men’s team heads into the season without four-year-stand-out Adam Lindsey, who graduated in the spring. But taking his place will be a pair of runners.

Eric and Justin Garren were named co-captains by coach Jackie Sgambati, but the twins have more than just leading a young team on their hands.

“Each year we go through this,” Eric Garren said. “You always lose one of the top runners, but it just encourages everyone else a little more to step up.

“The people I have behind me are now stepping up with leadership and talent. It does hurt to have good runners leave, obviously.”

The Garrens will have a strong freshmen class to mold, Eric Garren said.

“We have some really good freshmen, they are really dynamic,” he said. “It’s probably one of our best classes to come through here.”

The freshmen class will add deth to an already fast Phoenix lineup. Juniors Eric Lewandowski and Ricky Myers will be needed to step in for a team that can be described as youthful. But it also has talent and depth, and having that sort of depth only pushes the entire team to finish stronger, Eric Garren said.

“It encourages the other kids to step it up a notch and it inspires the freshmen to try hard and achieve their goals,” Eric Garren said. “When you have that kind of talent and depth it’s hard to tell how far a team will go. Our top seven are very close in terms of time and talent.”

This past weekend the men finished fourth in the Wake Forest Relays.

Even though there were only four teams in the field the team was competing against multiple teams from the ACC. The meet didn’t mean as much to the team, but was still important in the development, Eric Garren said.

Women

While the men are looking to replace their top finisher from last year, the women’s team doesn’t have that problem.

Junior Anna Mae Flynn and sophomore Caitlin Beeler return to lead a very talented roster, including juniors Alissa Wilke and Jessica Doan, and senior Katelyn Ealer.

Senior captains Kelly Chencharik and Megan Atkinson will do their best to give guidance to a young team that is already ripe with experience.

“Both of our captains are bringing the team together and working on unity,” Flynn said.

Although she was beat out by Beeler in the Southern Conference Championship, Flynn is considered the top runner on the team.

“Individually, I’m going to do the best I can and try to bring my teammates with me,” Flynn said, “I went through that last year. I felt a lot of pressure.

“I didn’t know where I was coming into the beginning of the season sophomore year.”

Like the men’s team, the women welcome in an extremely strong freshmen class, which will only add to a team that returns nearly all of its top 10 runners.

“In terms of our top 10 we haven’t really lost anyone, so basically we have freshman coming in that are top notch,” Flynn said. “They are filling the game between the top two and our third runner.”

Such a highly touted freshmen class, Sgambati may have a third consecutive Southern Conference Freshman of the Year on her hands, following in the footsteps of Flynn (2005) and Beeler (2006).

The team is ranked fourth in the conference after finishing fourth last season. Some would think that the team would be higher, returning nearly all their runners, but Flynn is satisfied with the position.

“Fourth is where we stand in terms of how they ranked us,” Flynn said. “They do it by terms of how your team has done throughout the season. Where we stand is reasonable. The teams ahead of us are known as running schools.”

The women also finished fourth in the Wake Forest Relays, while competing against such high level talent.

“We’re focused and excited,” Flynn said. “We have a drive and determination to succeed.

“We are really moving forward to make this a success for our team and for our coach. That is the ultimate decision.”

Managing Editor: Justin Hite - 09/05/07