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FIVE TENNESSEANS IN ACTION AT NCAA CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Terre Haute,IN will once again play host to the NCAA Division I National Cross-Country Championships. This year, five Tennesseans will be in action. They are scattered across the nation, each having qualified for cross-country's 'big dance' via different Regional Championships. Between them they won 28 state championships while in high school.

Let's take a closer look at each athlete, in order of seniority.

ANDREW BUMBALOUGH

Hometown: Brentwood

School: Georgetown University

Class: 5th Year Senior

2009 Mid-Atlantic Regional finish: 1st

NCAA National XC Champs Experience: 2007 - 22nd; 2008 - 13th

Brentwood's Andrew Bumbalough was a 9-time (Div.II) state champion while at Brentwood Academy, and finished 2nd at Foot Locker Cross-Country Nationals as a senior. He still holds the 1600 and 3200 state records, at 4:05.75 and 8:46.80.

'Bumbi' has gone on to have a fantastic career at Georgetown University, garnering All-American status five times and having arguably the best collegiate career of any Tennessean in history.

Bumbalough had a stellar track season in 2009, while redshirting, lowering his 1500m and 5000m PRs to 3:38 and 13:30. This fall, he has only been beaten once, when finishing 3rd at the Big East Championships. He won his season opener at the Wisconsin Invitational (right) and also won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region meet.

This will be his third (and final) appearance at cross-country's 'big dance.' Having finished 13th last year, he will be expecting to be in the top ten. With better finishing speed than most other likely contenders, except perhaps Oklahoma State's German Fernandez, Bumbalough has a shot - albeit a long one - at winning the whole thing, but the co-favorites are probably Liberty's Sam Chelanga (2nd last year) and Stanford's Chris Derrick (7th last year).

Georgetown, who won the Mid-Atlantic region for the 6th straight year, are ranked #14 going into the meet.

 

ROB SORRELL

Hometown: Memphis

School: Oklahoma University

Class: Junior

2009 Midwest Regional finish: 4th

NCAA National XC Champs Experience: none

Rob Sorrell was a 5-time state champion while at Bolton High School and ranks 4th on the Tennessee all-time high school list at both 1600 (4:09.26) and 3200 (9:04.20).

The Oklahoma University junior has had a very solid collegiate career thus far, but after spending last summer training in Flagstaff,AZ, he has seen the fruits of that high altitude labor this fall.

This fall, he has shown impressive form, finishing 12th at the very competitive Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, 6th at the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas, 11th at the Big 12 Championships, and 4th place at the NCAA Midwest Regional. By comparison, in 2007, his sophomore year (he redshirted in 2008), he was 44th at Griak, 44th at Big 12, and 27th at NCAA Regionals.

This will be Sorrell's, and indeed Oklahoma's, first appearance at the NCAA Cross-Country meet. Sorrell has a very good shot at earning All-American status, but he remains somewhat understated about his personal goals for the meet. "I 'd like to be top sixty, but I feel like, if evrything is clicking, I can be top 40 and get All-American status."

Oklahoma, who have been playing second fiddle to in-state rivals, #2 Oklahoma State, are ranked #16 going into the meet. "This is the first time Oklahoma has ever made it as at team, so it's exciting for everyone," Sorrell said. "We're ranked #16 going in, and we'd like to beat that. Our team goal is to finish in the top 10."

 

NATE EDELMAN

Hometown: Memphis

School: Cornell University

Class: Junior

2009 Northeast Regional finish: 9th

NCAA National XC Champs Experience: none

Nate Edelman may be the most improved Tennessean currently running in college. He is the only one of the five running in Terre Haute who didn't win at least 4 state chanpionships! In fact, his best finish was a 3rd place run in the 2006 State Cross-Country meet, behind Sen Keveren and Matt Sonnenfeldt.

A relative newcomer to the sport (who didn't start running until his junior year), Edelman graduated from White Station High School with a 3200 PR of 9:28 - solid, but not jaw-dropping. Fast forward two years, and as a Cornell sophomore he runs 14:04 for 5000m at the 2009 Penn Relays and 29:31 over 10,000 at the Bucknell Invite. Like Sorrell, Edelman spent much of the summer training at higher elevations out west, and it has paid dividends. This fall, he finished 5th in a very close finish at the very competitive Paul Short Invitational (clocking 23:42), he placed 4th at Heps (the Ivy League Championships), and he splashed his way around to 9th at the NCAA Northeat Regional meet (right). Cornell did not qualify as a team, but Edelman nabbed one of the individual qualifying berths.

This will be his first Nationals experience. "A dream would be to finish in the top 40," Edelman told TR, "but the highest a Cornell runner has finished in recent years is 84th, so I'd definitely like to beat that."

 

SEAN KEVEREN

Hometown: Brentwood

School: University of Virginia

Class: Freshman

2009 Southeast Regional finish: did not run

NCAA National XC Champs Experience: none

The last two years have been a rocky road for Brentwood's Sean Keveren. The former Brentwood High star, who won 6 state titles and ranks #2 all-time in the 3200 (at 8:52.06) has had the lst 24 months punctuated with breaks from running forced on him by a hip and knee injury.

Keveren redshirted his entire freshman year at Virginia, but, once healthy, gathered steam in the early summer, and ran three great 5000-meter races. He clocked 14:19 in his debut at the distance at the Music City Distance Carnival, placed 2nd in the U.S Junior Champs three weeks later (behind this year's Big 12 cross-country champion, Colby Lowe), and then ran a great race (overhauling Lowe) at the Pan-Am Junior Championships to nab a silver medal. His injury woes behind him, everyone was expecting hi to carry that monentum into cross-country season and be a key runner for Virginia.

This fall, however, he has left the Cavaliers coach, Jason Vigilante scractching his head. He ran well to place 4th atthe Lou Onesty Invitational, but then struggled at UVA's home meet, the Panorama Farms Invite, only placing 48th. He had strep throat at the ACC meet where he only finished 56th, but he ran well in a low-key meet at Virginia the week before regionals, where he was the alternate. With UVA's #7 man at the regional meet struggling, Coach Vigilante is sliding Keveren in for Nationals.

This will be Keveren's first national championships at the collegiate level, but he has big meet experience, having competed (and made the 1500m final) in the U.S Junior championships while still an 11th grader. However, he has yet to put together a cross-country race at a level beyond the Tennessee state meet. His goal for Monday? "If I can run smart and average 5-minute pace, I should be able to finish somewhere in the 70s."

Virginia are ranked #27 going into the meet, having only qualified at-large after a disappointing 5th place finish at Regionals. Their frontrunner, Emil Heineking, was the ACC Champion and should challenge for a top 20 finish, but the Cavaliers will need to run more like they did at ACCs - and less like they did at Regionals - if they are to finish among the top 20 teams.

 

KATHY KROEGER

Hometown: Franklin

School: Stanford University

Class: Freshman

2009 West Regional finish: 19th

NCAA National XC Champs Experience: none

Franklin's Kathy Kroeger had a fantastic high school career while at Independence High School. A 4-time Foot Locker Nationals finalist, she was the 2006 National Champion and 2007 National runner-up. She was a 2-time Foot Locker South Regional champion (2007-08), runner-up in 2006, and fourth in 2005. She made history by being the only athete to ever win 4 Tennessee State cross-country titles (2005-08). On the track, she twice won the 1600 and 3200 double at State, and currently holds the 3200 state record at 10:20.91.

Historically, a win at Foot Locker Nationals has been the kiss of death for female elite runners, but Kroeger and Oregon frosh, Jordan Hasay, are aiming to buck that trend. Kroeger's first semester at Stanford University has been a quiet one, with just two racing appearances punctuated by a nagging injury. She ran well early in the season, placing 3rd (and #1 for Stanford) at the Cardinal Invitational, but did not race again until the NCAA West Region Championships. where she placed 19th.

Stanford are ranked #10 going into the meet. At the West Region meet, they placed 3rd (behind #1 Washington and #2 Oregon) but ran without their top runner, Alex Gits. "I'd really like us to get on that team podium," said Stanford coach Jason Dunn.

"I'm not sure what to expect of Kathy, but I think she is definitely capable of placing in the top 40." Anyone who has followed Kroeger's career knws that she is a gamer and few would bet against her earning All-American status on Monday.

TR Editor DAVE MILNER is an assistant coach at Belmont University and was Sean Keveren's high school coach. He will be going to Terre Haute with his camera .