2010 Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Media Guide

Women's Outlook
Sprint, Hurdles and Relays
If one were to take a glance at last year’s depth chart in the sprints
and hurdles and then look over this years’, you would be hard-pressed
to find any difference – and rightfully so. The 2009 Wildcat women’s
sprinting and hurdling squads are a dead ringer for last year’s team,
with no athletes lost to graduation.
Leading the way this season are a pair of hurdlers in junior LaTisha
Holden and sophomore Dahlys Marshall. The two tore up the track
last season, both earning All-Conference honors indoors at the Mount
Pacific Sports Federation Championships. Outdoors, Holden climbed
to number five all-time at Arizona in the 100-meter hurdles with her
time of 13.46 set at the NCAA West Regional Championships where she
garnered All-Region accolades. Marshall earned All-Conference honors
outdoors as well, and the two create quite a dynamic one-two punch in
the high hurdles.
In the intermediate hurdles, Arizona will look to see what they have
in redshirt freshman Georganne Moline this season. Moline – who
competed in the 400-meters indoors last year – missed last season due
to injury and will look to bounce back in her first true outdoor campaign
this year. Moline holds the second fastest mark in Arizona high school
history ain the 300-meter hurdles and performed well in the 400-meters
indoors last year. She is joined in the 400-meter hurdles by redshirt
sophomore Rebecca Nelson and redshirt freshman Ashley Rohweder,
both of whom were very impressive high school runners. Together,
they add an important dynamic to a squad that has spent several years
looking for depth in the event.
In the quarter-mile, Arizona returns several athletes who could very
well make a difference at
the conference level. Junior
Deanna Sullivan, who holds
the 10th best time in Arizona
history in the event, returns
alongside redshirt sophomore
Echos Blevins and sophomore
Andrea Menhennet. All have
shown glimpses of brilliance
in their young careers and will
look for breakout seasons in
2010.
That kind of depth in the
event could also play a key
role for the UA squad in the
4x400-meter relay. Blevins
and Sullivan are already part
of the sixth best relay time
in the school’s history in
2008 and with the addition
of Menhennet and perhaps
800-meter runner Christina
Rodgers – also a member of that 2008 team – this could become a very
strong event for the Wildcats.
Middle Distance/Distance
Perhaps no squad on the UA roster – either men or women – will see
as drastic of a turnaround from year to year as the women’s middle and
long distance runners. Arizona has already seen what may be one of the
top recruiting classes in the nation turn the distance program around
for the best, as 2009 saw the women’s cross country team head to it’s
first NCAA National Championship appearance in eight years and youth
was the tale of the tape as far as that occasion was concerned. With on
a junior and two sophomores returning from last year’s squad, no less
than seven Arizona freshmen helped push the team over the top.
Junior Maggie Callahan returns as the most senior member of the
team and has lived up to the billing thus far in the 2009-10 season.
Callahan earned All-Conference and All-Region honors during the
cross country season and returns as the UA’s number four runner alltime
in the 3000-meter steeplechase – earning All-Conference honors
in the event last season.
Along with Callahan comes the UA freshman record holder and
third best steeplechaser in school history in sophomore Hannah Moen.
Moen barely missed out on a national championship berth last season
as she earned All-Conference and All-Region honors in the event and
gradually improved as the season progressed.
Fellow sophomore of the same name, Hanna Henson, also returns
for Arizona. Henson played a pivotal role as being a ‘senior’ member
of the 2009 cross country squad despite only being a sophomore.
Henson will play a key role for the Wildcats in the longer distance races
this season.
And that leads to the magnificent class of freshman. It’s hard to
pick a starting point in a bunch that includes two Footlocker Finalists,
multiple state champions and an overall abundance of talent. Lauren
Smith and Jennifer Bergman lead the way for the youngsters, both
competing in the High School Footlocker Nationals as seniors at their
respective schools Both also were key players in the Wildcat’s run to
the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships with Bergman actually
finishing as the first Wildcat across the line in the event.
Behind the two comes a slew of other young athletes. Cami Jackson
comes in as the home-state hero after earning multiple Arizona All-
State honors during her tenure at Mesa Mountain View. Elizabeth
Apgar is a multiple-time CIF San Diego Section Champion out of
California and owns Lincoln High School distance
Triple Crown with schools records in the 800-
, 1600- and 3200-meters.
Megan Meyer comes in as another
of the top California distance runners
and Melanie McGrath is the
hometown sweetheart, helping
to lead Tucson’s Catalina High
School to the 2007 Arizona Cross
Country Team Championship. In
addition to the aforementioned
athletes, Chloe Allen, Alyssa Graziano,
Kat Howard, Magda Mankel and
Alexandra Myers also represent to
new talented faces to the
2009-10 squad.
And even will all the talent listed above, it may be the return
of Christina Rodgers in the 800-meters that could be one of the
more important factors over the course of the season. Rodgers,
sidelined for the entirety of what would have been her junior season,
returns in 2010 as the school’s number two runner all-time in the
800-meters. Rodgers brings to the team NCAA track and field national
championship experience as well, having competed there during her
breakout sophomore season. Rodger’s experience and leadership and
the way she bounces back from injury could be one of the biggest
storylines of the 2010 season.
Jumps, Pole Vault and Multi-Events
If the Arizona men’s jumping team seemed impressive, then one
need look no further then the Wildcat’s women jumpers to be equally
impressed. High jumpers Liz Patterson and Jasmin Day return the only
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2009-10 Arizona TRACK & FIELD Media Guide