HOME OF BULLDOG CROSS COUNTRY- 11 Combined SCIAC Championships

The 2009 season marks a new era for the University of Redlands cross country program as Head Coach Mike Schmidt takes command of both the men’s and women’s teams.

Schmidt, who is also the head coach of the track & field program, formerly helmed the SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta cross country teams.

Runners on both squads carry momentum from a strong track season, and Schmidt remains optimistic about the 2009 campaign.

“We bring back the top-five [runners] on each side,” Schmidt said. “Most of the returners had very good track seasons.”

The women, who placed third in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) last year, hope to maintain their position among the revered programs of the conference.

Leading the Bulldogs is senior Kelly Luck (Boulder, CO), the lone First-Team All-SCIAC runner on the 2008 women’s contingent. Schmidt said that Luck continues to improve and has been “extra impressive” this fall. Count on Luck to push the top runners in the region and fight for a spot in the NCAA Championships.

Outside of Luck, the Maroon and Gray returns three Second-Team All-SCIAC honorees in junior Katie Ostrinski (Riverside, CA), junior Heather Mayer (Spring Valley, CA) and sophomore Fiona Wilhelm (Boise, ID). Furthermore, Schmidt said that senior Stephanie Mera (Redlands, CA) has been toward the top of the pack in practice and expects to compete as one of the team’s premier runners.

In addition, the rest of the returning women worked hard throughout the track season and promise to threaten their personal-best times this year.

In terms of newcomers, Schmidt points to freshman Madison Smith (Redlands, CA) and freshman Vainayaki Sivaji (North Hollywood, CA) as rookies who have the requisite background to vie for a spot in the top five. Smith, a long-distance specialist from Redlands East Valley High School, has run up with the returners in training sessions while Sivaji boasts an impressive résumé as a track & field athlete.

The men’s team returns all of its key cogs from 2008 and has the potential to finish among the top four once again.

Senior Jake Baechle (Aurora, OH) aspires to parlay his extraordinary track talent to the course as he builds on a successful 2008 season.

“Jake had an amazing track season and a breakout cross country season in 2008,” Schimdt said. “He has started to figure out the 8K distance, and since he’s done that, the sky’s the limit.”

Expect junior Jeremy Kalmus (New Orleans, LA) and junior Alec Fillmore (Riverside, CA) to challenge Baechle and elevate the Bulldog quintet toward the top of the SCIAC standings. Kalmus logged solid hours during the summer and performed well on the track in the spring while Fillmore entered camp as the squad’s most impressive runner.

Freshman Tom Marshall (Hillsboro, OR) adds a dynamic dimension as a standout middle-distance runner. If he can successfully master the transition to the 8K, watch for him to factor in at the conference championship meet.

The SCIAC, long dominated by Occidental College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, presents a considerable challenge for the Bulldogs in order to climb to the top of the standings.

“We run in a very tough cross country conference,” Schmidt said. “Three teams in the SCIAC are ranked among the top 25 in the nation.”

The program’s goal this year, Schmidt said, is to contend with the elite teams in the conference.

“There’s not much of a significant change from last year,” Schmidt said. “The returners have put in the work over the summer, and we hope to be able to compete with the best teams in the SCIAC.”