Cross Country Opens 2017 Season on Friday at Temple Invitational

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Cross Country Opens 2017 Season on Friday at Temple Invitational

8.30.17 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

PHILADELPHIA – The Temple men's and women's cross country teams enter the second season under head coach James Snyder, who is in his sixth year with the program. The Owls are set to commence competition on Friday, Sept. 1 at the Temple Invitational hosted at Belmont Plateau.

The 2017 cross country schedule is highlighted with the American Athletic Conference Championship which will take place at Belmont on Saturday, Oct 28 at 10 a.m. Friday's Temple Invitational will serve as a course preview for some members of The American. The Owls will race against ECU, Tulane, and non-conference opponent Southern New Hampshire.

Women's cross country starts the season ranked No. 15 in the Mid-Atlantic region by the USTFCCCA. The Owls return five runners in senior Katie Pinson, juniors Ashton Dunkley and Katie Leisher, and sophomores Millie Howard and Grace Moore. The squad welcomes seven newcomers in freshmen Isadora Egypt, McKenzie Gelvin, Helene Gottlieb, Lucy Jones, Michelle Joyce, Kaitlyn Rauscher, and Sara Salavitabar. The group is filled with all-conference, all-state and all-district honorees, international championship runners, and scholar athletes. Leading the women's team this year will be team captains Pinson and Leisher.

"We're bringing in a group of young ladies who can definitely contribute right away," said Snyder. "One who immediately comes to mind is Lucy Jones. She has had a very successful career running cross country in the United Kingdom and so far has done a great job jumping in with our top group of girls during training. By the time we get around to the most important meets of the season, our conference meet and the NCAA regionals, she will be well rounded."

Last season, women's cross country finished eighth out of 11 teams at the American Cross Country Championships. Leisher (14) and Howard (20) both took top-20 finishes. Leisher achieved all-conference honors for her top-15 performance. After a tremendous summer of training, Snyder expects great success from the junior.

"Katie had the best summer of training of her life.," he said. "She has gotten a lot of mileage in and has worked very hard to improve on her performance last year. I have huge expectations for her this year and predict she will be up at the front of our conference race. Millie is also someone who will be one of our front runners at the conference meet as I expect her to place in the top-10 in that field compared to her 20th place finish last year."

Men's cross country will return its entire 2016 roster this season: graduate student Marc Steinsberger, juniors Johnathan Condly, Ben Evans, David Fitzgerald, Tyji Mays, and Shane Ramdeo, sophomores Kevin Lapsansky, Donovan Mears, Ben Ryherd, Zach Seiger, and Justin Yurchak. The squad finished fifth out of nine teams at he American Cross Country Championships after heading into to the race ranked No. 15 in the Mid-Atlantic region by the USTFCCCA. Steinsberger proved to be the season's standout with all-conference honors, two first-place titles, and one conference male runner of the week award. The Esslingen, Germany native will serve as co-captain along with Condly.

"Marc is in much better shape than he was a year ago, so the expectation is that he will be battling towards the top five or top three of our conference," said Snyder. "He definitely has the ability to do that, but he has to remain healthy. I've been working with him on learning how to run fast, but not necessarily running hard. Marc will run through a wall every day if you asked him to, but it's all about finding the balance in that so that we are fresher later in the season when it really matters."

Newcomers to the men's team include freshmen Noah Curtin, Anton Harrsen, Evan Hutton, Kristian Jensen, and Nick Toenshoff.

"Kristian and Anton have trained together at their last university," said Snyder. "Kristian has been a really competitive runner for a long time and is the best junior distance runner in Denmark right now. Anton is the opposite - sort of unheralded, but is an extremely hard worker. What sticks out most to me about them is the professionalism they carry when it comes to training for cross country. In their free time they take the liberty of making use of our weight rooms and training facilities. They truly care about the specifics of what they need to do to be successful and I am hoping that rubs off on the rest of our guys."

With a solid, hardworking group on each team, Snyder predicts a successful season come time for the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. As the women's team gets deeper and continues to develop, the men's team has accrued a depth in talent and numbers that could make the squad the most competitive it has ever been.

"Where our strength in growing numbers and interchangeable talent puts us in October as we get ready for the conference meet is yet to be determined," said Snyder, "but I am expecting a special year. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. If you commit to doing something different, you'll see changes in the outcome."

The address to use for Belmont Plateau on GPS is:

West Fairmount Park
2000 Belmont Mansion Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19131

Parking is available near the entrance to Belmont Plateau, off of Belmont Mansion Drive (make a right or left onto Army Road). This entrance will close at 5 p.m. and re-open at the end of the races. Additional parking is available in the lot on the Montgomery Drive side of Belmont Plateau.