Junior Shelby Houlihan and freshman Miranda Kewley run sprints on the Joe Selleh Track. The cross country team is preparing for the West Regionals this weekend. (Photo by Katie Dunphy)Women's cross-country
The ASU women’s cross-country is coming off a sixth place finish at the Pac-12 championships and is preparing for a big meet on Friday in Sacramento, Calif.
With another big test coming up at the NCAA West Regional Championships, the team is focused on moving up in points to secure a spot in the NCAA championships after failing to do so in each of the last three seasons.
Coach Ryan Cole said the team has been practicing strong all week, while getting prepared for the regional competition.
Cole said junior Shelby Houlihan continues to be the driving-force for the team. Houlihan finished fourth overall at the Pac-12 championships, propelling the team to a sixth-place finish.
“(Houlihan) ran strong," Cole said. "I think she was a little disappointed. She wanted to be there for the win, but I think on any given day, that’s a very strong possibility. In fact, on any day that the race is at that altitude, I would put my money on (Houlihan).”
Cole said there were a lot of positives that he took from the last meet in Louisville, Colo. Houlihan, sophomore Adriana Olivas, freshman Chiara Warner and freshman Kala Stone all had strong finishes at the Pac-12 championships.
Cole noted that Olivas has been running strong in her last couple of meets.
“She’s willing to do the work," Cole said. "I was very high on (Olivas), and she’s definitely running well."
Cole said getting the entire group to buy into the lifestyle that will lead to success during races takes time.
“Typically it’s easier to get one person doing the right things than everybody at the same time,” Cole said. “Pretty soon you have a group doing the right things. You try to encourage that as a coach and eventually, people that aren’t willing to do what the rest of the group is doing, it eventually becomes less fun for those people.”
Cole said Houlihan is a big part of the plan in doing the right things and buying into the right lifestyle for a successful cross-country career.
“I think our freshman class is a tremendous group that are here for the right reasons,” Cole said.
As for the NCAA West Regional Championships Friday in Sacramento, Cole expects the team to be focused and run hard as they battle for points with only a few weeks left in the season.
Cole said he expects the talented group to be in contention to make the case for the NCAA championship.
“If we go in and execute our race plan, and we have great poise going into the meet, very good relaxation, very good confidence and an understanding of what we need to do and then execute our race plan, in my opinion, that’ll be a success,” Cole said.
Men's cross-country
The ASU men’s cross-country team showed that it's not going to rely on hope to get them into the NCAA championships this season.
ASU finished in sixth place at the Pac-12 championships and look to build on that momentum heading into another big points race in the NCAA West Regional Championships.
Coach Louie Quintana said that the key to the last meet was that the team showed that it could compete with some of the top schools in the country.
The NCAA West Regional is considered a one of the bigger races of the season, as it can swing the placing of the teams for the NCAA championships.
“We just got to keep coming," Quintana said. "Get better every day. I feel like we’re running as good as we have all year at this point, but we haven’t really clicked on all cylinders yet, so I feel like we’re a dangerous team.”
ASU will compete for points in the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 15 in Sacramento.
Reach the reporter at lzazueta@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @lorenzozazueta
