Ripon College Days

Media Credit: Photo by Nicole Klaas Runnin' on. Sophomore Amanda Beers keeps her focus during the season's first invitational at St. Norbert College. [Click to enlarge]

The men's and women's cross country teams-each with unique strengths and nuances-are poised to compete with consistency and ready to make their presence known within the conference this season.

Led by seniors Dave Billings and Peter Nielsen, the men's team is starting strong. With two invitational wins under their belt and a solid performance this past weekend at Augustana, a meet Head Coach of Cross Country Robert Duley dubs "a who's who of cross country," the men are pushing themselves like never before. "We go to meets now to win meets, not just to run," says Nielsen of the men's team. "We're a lot tougher and we're all on the same page."

In addition to Billings and Nielsen, many of the men, including sophomores Jim Hein, Bryan Schneider and Harrison Smith have been running to consistent top-20 finishes. But, Duley is extraordinarily enthused by the men's attitudes.

"I've had a lot of teams that I've liked, but I really like this team," he raves. "They have a passion for running and they really like to compete."

That passion, combined with their depth-the men have 13 runners, 8 of whom are returners-could be the winning combination for this group.

"The neat thing about this team is that they're not defined by one or two runners; they have quality depth," says Duley. "If we close our gaps, we're as good as anybody in the conference."

The men hope to maximize their strengths with outstanding personal and team performances. Their goal is to win the Private College Championships in mid-October and perform well at the conference meet Oct. 29. Billings, who qualified for nationals last season, has set high goals for himself. Billings wants to return to national competition and also earn the title of All-American.

"We want to prove that we're the best team Ripon's ever had," says Nielsen. "Then we want to take that next step and make some noise at conference. We're going to do whatever it takes to get better."

Meanwhile, a young women's team is looking to stay healthy and gain experience. The team, which consists entirely of first year and sophomore runners, lacks experience and depth, but Duley says they're a dedicated core of athletes who love to compete.

"These girls can run-they just need experience," he says. "They're so inexperienced that even in the season I expect to see tremendous progress."

The women are led by sophomore captains Brittany Dick, Amanda Beers and Rebecca Duley. The team has battled injury early on but hopes to be competing in full force by mid season.

"To this point they've done what they're capable of doing, but I have higher expectations for them," says Duley. "I think they'll reach these [expectations] if two things happen: as they get and stay healthy and as they gain experience."

With only nine women on the team, Duley stresses the importance of every team member's performance at meets.

"Like the men, there are some gaps on this team," he says. "For them to be successful, the fifth, sixth and seventh runners have to stay healthy and perform to the best of their ability."

For such a young team, the focus lies not only in this season, but in the years to come as the team gains experience and grows stronger as a cohesive unit.

"The next few years are going to be great," says Rebecca. "We're all so close and so young. We know each other well and we're going to help each other progress."

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