Griffins' cross-country squad heads into 'transition year' with seven first-years

Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – With seven of nine team members in their first year of eligibility, it's clear the MacEwan cross-country program is in a rebuilding phase.

That said, the future can certainly be a bright one for a group all learning the ropes of U SPORTS cross-country at the same time.

"It's a really big transition year for the program," said head coach Drew Carver, who has just two runners back from a 12-person roster a year ago. "It's kind of nice because if they can all start together and stick together, two or three years down the way they'll be a really solid team.

"Right now, I expect us to be at the back end of the racing and hopefully we get through the season, understand the training, understand the racing – what's all required – and the next year we'll be even stronger."

The Griffins will head to their first event of the 2018-19 season this weekend – Saturday's Huskies Sled Dog Open in Saskatoon – and Carver really doesn't have a clear idea of what to expect.

"Curiosity," he said when asked his thoughts about the season lid-lifter. "I don't really know what we have. The first-year athletes have been training well – that part I've been happy with.

"Looking at their numbers, I expect, for their first 8K run, they're going to be around 36 minutes. I don't know whether the nerves are going to get to them. A lot of them haven't competed at the university level in cross-country. So, that's going to throw them a little bit because there's going to be a lot of fast kids there and you've got to just learn to pace yourself."

Common problems for rookies at the U SPORTS level include going out too fast to keep pace with veteran runners and limping into the finish or going out too slow and being too far behind to catch up.

"It seems like first-year runners are always on one or the other side of the coin," said Carver.

But that's why they go to a few races before the U SPORTS nationals take place Nov. 10 in Kingston, Ont. and race 10K for men and 8K for women.

"There's two reasons why coaches go to these races," said Carver of the Sled Dog Open, which will be an 8K race for both genders. "One is just to see where your team is at and two to put your athletes into that experience so that when they do get to a national-level event it's not a great shock to their system."

At least the Griffins have one veteran competitor to lean on for advice. Third-year Scott Kohlman, who previously held the MacEwan record for the 10K before Aaron Boyle broke it last year, has been leading training and being the mentor that all of the youngsters can look up to.

"He's looking really solid, so I expect he will run faster than last year on this course, providing the weather co-operates," said Carver. "I expect a faster time from him and I hope in the end he'll perform at a faster pace over the whole season. He's looking faster."

Kohlman has only one male teammate this season – first-year Owen Guenette – and already he has been able to guide the Edmontonian, who comes from a cross-country and steeplechase background.

"Owen is really quite a pleasure to have on the team because he's running stride for stride with Scott," said Carver. "That's nice to see, but the only thing is, is he overtraining or pushing himself beyond (his level). We'll see on race day."

With only two competitors, short of the five that's required, MacEwan won't be fielding a men's squad in the team competition, but they'll each compete individually.

On the women's side, Shehzadi Abdul – who was part of MacEwan's ACAC Championship indoor track team – will run cross-country for the first time as a Griffin. Two-time provincial high school cross-country champion Daniella Wasielewski is back with the team, retaining first-year eligibility after a hip injury put her on the shelf early in the 2017 cross-country campaign.

They'll be joined by a promising crop of first-year high school standouts – Ashley Tymkow of Westlock, AB, and locals Cassandra Mastel-Marr (who has a triathlon background), Emma Steele, Bailey Stang and Delaney Cruickshank.

MacEwan's top five times will count in the women's competition, while the next two can be placeholders in the standings to bump other teams down the rankings.

"It's going to be a little bit of excitement and a little curiosity because I'm not sure how we're going to do and how we're going to do it," said Carver.

Following Saskatoon, the Griffins will next head out to Victoria for a race on Oct. 13.

"That is really going to wake them up to what (the U SPORTS level looks like)," said Carver. "Trinity Western, UBC and UVic will be there. This is the first step and that's the next step."

After that the Griffins head to the Stewart Cup in Calgary on Oct. 27, their last race before nationals.

"For the rookies that we've got, they're all a good bunch of kids," summed up Carver. "They have never raced these distances before this season. A 4K is maybe the longest distance they've previously done, but they're all eager and training hard."