HOME OF BULLDOG CROSS COUNTRY- 11 Combined SCIAC Championships

2008 Preview: Kelly, Kalmus Look to Lead Women's, Men's Teams to SCIAC Glory

Sporting a young corps of runners, both the University of Redlands men’s and women’s cross country teams look to continue to advance the program into the upper echelon of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

Head Coach Aaron Olswanger enters his second year manning the reigns of the head coaching position. He gains Matt Durkin and Angelo Posillico as assistant coaches, and both will come bearing experience from Oneonta State (NY) where they recently finished their athletic careers.

Olswanger said that he is not setting outright expectations for the season.

“My goal this year is to get everyone to improve and win at the conference meet,” he said. “I really want us to do well at [NCAA] Regionals so we can go to NCAAs as a team. That is something that has never happened before in program history.”

Senior Avery Kelly (Forth Worth, TX) returns as the fastest women’s cross country runner in the history of the program. A three-time First-Team All-SCIAC recipient, Kelly will gun for her third SCIAC Runner of the Year award. Last season, Kelly clocked a 23:06.25 at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Estacada, OR, which stood as her fastest performance of the season.

A slue of young Bulldogs will join Kelly as some of the fastest in the conference. Sophomore Katie Ostrinski (Riverside, CA) comes off of a stellar freshman campaign where she earned a First-Team All-SCIAC honor with a 23:41.63 mark at the SCIAC Championships. Coming off of a strong summer, Ostrinski will look to make a second appearance on the All-SCIAC First Team in 2008.

Junior Stephanie Mera (Redlands, CA) had a strong showing at last year’s Regional meet, and Olswanger said that she should have her best season yet in 2008.

“She’s going to be huge this year,” he said. “This definitely was her best summer so far.”

Senior Katie Johnson (Loveland, CO) returns after missing last season due to studying abroad. Johnson looks to bring a large amount of senior leadership to the table this season and will serve as a mentor to the younger runners.

Sophomore Heather Mayer (Spring Valley, CA) looks to break through this season after turning in the second-fastest 5K time on the team last year. A season-best time of 23:57.30 at Regionals, her last meet of the season, should serve as a harbinger of good things to come this year.

Completing the list of returning runners is junior Laura Tolle (Portland, OR). Boasting in-class excellence, Tolle comes in this season as a Redlands Scholar-Athlete and sports distance-running experience that will prove to be a solid contribution to the team.

Freshman Camila Alvarez (Riverside, CA) joins her high school teammate, Ostrinski, and headlines an incoming first-year-in-the-program class that nearly doubles the size of the 2007 team. Other young runners to keep an eye on are freshmen Gabby Black (El Cajon, CA) and Fiona Wilhelm (Boise, ID).

The men will turn to a large pool of underclassmen to take over the keys to the program. Redlands parted ways with NCAA qualifier Chris Smith ‘08 (Fremont, CA) at the end of last season, and a new era has begun.

Sophomore Jeremy Kalmus (New Orleans, LA) comes back as the fastest harrier among those returning. He brings solid experience after a season that ended in a Second-Team All-SCIAC nod.

Returning for his second season with the Bulldog cross country team, junior Jake Baechle (Aurora, OH) bears an exorbitant amount experience that will inspire the team. Baechle boasts a First-Team All-SCIAC award, which he won as a middle distance runner for the track & field team, and he competed on the big stage at the 2008 NCAA Track & Field Championships.

“He should improve a ton this year,” Olswanger said. “He didn’t run that well at [track & field] nationals, and that motivated him to train harder for this season. He had never done high-mileage running before, and he ran very well this summer.”

Jeff West (Denver, CO) returns for his senior season after spending last fall abroad. West will add depth to the Bulldog squad and will bring senior leadership to the table as well.

Rounding out the returnees on the men’s side is Alec Fillmore (Riverside, CA). Fillmore had a strong summer of training and is poised to drop time this fall.

Olswanger sports two new faces to the program that will look to elevate the men’s program. Bringing an established resume from high school, freshman Aaron Minsk (Puyallup, WA) will give raw distance talent to the team after placing fourth at the 2008 Class 2 Boys’ Missouri High School Championships for track & field in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:29.09. Also coming in as a threat is freshman Duncan Ashby (Goleta, CA). Ashby covered the three-mile Channel League Championship course in 15:23, averaging just less than 5:08 a mile.

With a solid core of leadership from both the coaching staff and the senior athletes, the young diamonds in the rough on both teams will await their chance at making history.