Boston College Athletics
WXC Ready for 2011 Season
September 08, 2011 | Women's Track & Field
Sept. 8, 2011
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -The Boston College women's cross country team will begin the 2011 season at the Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday, September 10. The Eagles are ranked No. 18 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and return six of seven student-athletes from the team went to the NCAA Championship a year ago.
THE CAPTAINS
Jillian King, Hope Krause and Madeline Wallace have been elected captains and will lead the squad that finished fourth in the ACC and third at the Northeast Regional en route to taking 19th at nationals - its best since 2005.
King led Boston College in three major meets as a junior. The Scotia, N.Y. native turned in the top performances for BC at the Roy Griak Invitational, ACC Championship and Northeast Regional. The two-time All-ACC member was also honored on the All-Region, USTFCCCA All-Academic and All-ACC Academic Teams.
"It's completely Jill's team this year," Thomas stated. "This is sort of a transition year for Jill, in the sense that she will not be in the same competitive field with her sister, Caroline. She's clearly the front runner. The question is, how will she respond? Jill is a great talent, tough and physically strong. She is absolutely ready to be an All-American in all three sports, if she puts her mind to it. She should be top 40 at NCAAs this fall, in the 3,000 at indoors and one of the top 1,500-meter runners at the outdoor meet. She's that talented, but has to keep focus. I really hope she's ready to embrace those things and achieve the things she's capable of."
A walk-on in 2010, Krause had an immediate impact. The Eagle was a consistent scorer at No. 3 and 4 in the postseason for BC. The New Canaan, Conn. joined her fellow captain on the regional and academic teams, narrowly missing All-ACC and All-American honors in her first attempts.
"Hope is very bright, a very smart young woman," Thomas commented. "In terms of cross country, she has the ability to keep pace with anyone. She can go out, focus on one person and stay with them as long as possible. Hope really knows you're only as good as your No. 5. She understands that the more people she beats from the other teams, the better our team score will be."
A win at the New England Championship marked the arrival of Wallace last season. The London, Ontario product shattered her PR in the conference title race to help deliver BC its lowest point total ever at ACCs. Wallace followed up as the fourth and fifth scorer for the Eagles at the regional and national championships, respectively.
"Every program needs a Maddie Wallace," Thomas observed. "She's extremely valuable in so many ways. The team looks to Maddie as a role model, and they should because she's a wonderful person. She's a little bit older, so the team knows they can talk to her. She organizes the team to do things with the community. Maddie is a key to success, because she gives you a solid four or five. We depend on her to be in that range. If she can find herself in the top 25 at ACCs, we'll be all set, and if she can do the same at the regional meet, we'll go to NCAAs."
RETURNING LEADERSHIP
Seventeen letterwinners from the 2010 roster are back for the 2011 season.
"We have the ability to be as good, if not better than last year," Thomas observed. "Two of our top five, Elizabeth O'Brien and Hope [Krause], were first year runners in 2010. Now they have a full year under their belt, having completed the cross country and track cycle. They are head and shoulders above where they were last year on September first, so that's huge for us."
Walk-ons O'Brien and Krause were pleasant surprises last season, but the emergence of juniors Allison Stasiuk and Elizabeth Hynes as scoring threats also bolstered the Eagles in their postseason run. After missing last fall, fellow third-year Bridget Dahlberg had strong track seasons and looks to continue her momentum with a breakout year.
"Any team is only as good as its fifth runner," Thomas coached. "And you don't want to stop there. No. 5 should be pressuring No. 3. No. 8 should be pushing No. 5. That kind of mentality keeps the players honest and is healthy for the team."
A NEW LOOK
The Eagles graduated All-American Caroline King, Caitlin Bailey, Siobhan Breagy, Jessica Driscoll and Christy Titus, but reload the lineup with six freshmen: Marissa Horton, Elissa Knight, Kathy O'Keefe, Liv Westphal, Brittany Winslow and Danielle Winslow.
"I think we will get a lot of help from our freshman class," Thomas foresaw. "The two Winslow twins are solid, tough, running upfront type cross country kids and Liv won a national champion in France last year. The other girls are also very good, so this group has the potential to impact our season in a big way."
In an effort to spur that depth, the Eagles will send different lineups to their first two meets, the Dartmouth Invitational and UMass Invitational.
"We're very solid, but we need to develop five through eight," Thomas stated. "The kids in that range need to go to meets like these and feel what it's like, mentally and physically, to be the top runner. It gives them a chance to develop that runners' phsyche more readily and have them understand that they can be, and will be one day, one of our leading runners."
THE FIELD
Boston College's schedule will be one of the toughest in the nation once again, as six teams in the ACC and three programs from the Northeast Region are nationally ranked.
"At the end of the year, I think you will find that two of the top six teams in the country will come from the ACC," Thomas predicted. "During the season, four, if not five, will be ranked in the top 15 and all six will be in the top 20. It's almost that way now. To have six in the top 21 is very impressive. It's a great challenge for us and we need go out and meet it."
At the conference meet in Clemson on Oct. 29, the No. 18 Eagles will be pitted against preseason USTFCCCA No. 6 Florida State, No. 9 Duke, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 17 Virginia and No. 21 NC State. Preseason Poll
"I think we'll see one team just slightly above the others," Thomas commented. "The top half of the conference is so close that teams could flip-flop with each other on any given day. That's the beauty of the sport. You're only as good as you are when that fifth runner crosses the line."
Regionally, Providence received one first place vote and heads into the year sitting in third on the national poll, while Syracuse is rated at No. 15. Preseason Poll
"The region this year is as competitive as it's been in six years, when it put five or six teams into the national meet," Thomas began, "I don't think we'll see that happen again, but we may see four or five. An outstanding transfer has bolstered Providence a heck of a lot. Syracuse is nationally ranked. Stony Brook was seventh in the country last year, but remains talented despite losing the Van Dalens for the fall. You just never know who other schools pick up as freshmen."
