Cross Country Set to Host Bear Twilight

Friday, August 30

Waco, Texas

7:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

Bear Twilight Invitational

Cross Country Set to Host Bear Twilight

8/28/2019 3:27:00 PM | Cross Country

Meet Info

Season opener will take place at the HOT Soccer Complex for the ninth consecutive year.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Until the Baylor men's and women's cross country teams get some more mileage under them, associate head coach Jon Capron has been holding back on the reins.
            That changes Friday night when Baylor hosts the Bear Twilight Invitational at the Heart of Texas Soccer Complex, with the women's 4,000-meter run starting at 7 p.m., followed immediately by the men's 6K race.
            "Everything that we've done is a little more volume-based," Capron said. "So, to get something a little short to start the season is going to be fun to kind of let go of the reins and see how fast they can go on their own."
            Compared to the 50 to 80 miles a week they were putting in this summer, a 4K or 6K is more like a sprint than a run.
            "It's important that we start building up in the summer so that when we get here we're in good shape and still ready to build for a long season," said redshirt sophomore TJ Sugg, a scoring runner in all six meets last year with top-10 finishes in the first two meets. "After a long summer of training, everyone is usually ready to race. It's a good opener. It's a 6K, you don't have to go the full 8 (kilometers), but everybody's ready."
            What was encouraging for Capron was to see his freshmen do "their homework" this summer and come in ready to compete.
            "To see them come in and kind of hit stride, be part of the crew, that's what you want," Capron said. "Both the girls and guys have done a good job with that. To see them just kind of hop right in and hold their own is a great thing. I hope that front group kind of keeps pushing."
            Sophomore Celia Holmes, a scoring runner in all six meets last fall, heads a veteran list of returners for a women's team that was sixth in the initial NCAA South Central Region rankings. Also back are junior Sarah Antrich and seniors Haley Everroad, Hana Marsheck, Gabby Satterlee and Lindsay Walton.
            "I think they're still underestimating us a little bit," Capron said of the preseason ranking. "I'm glad they gave us a little credit, but I think they've underestimated people like Lindsay, actually. She's made big strides that haven't shown up on paper yet. . . . Our women are going to be there when it matters later this season."
            Walton, who scored in the first and last meets a year ago, said she came to Baylor as a walk-on and has just gotten faster through the years.
            "I wasn't that fast, and I just slowly built up," she said. "I think we have a lot of solid people that just put in good work and get faster. I think this program is conducive to that. Coming in my freshman year with Coach (Todd) Harbour, he cultivated a group of freshman girls who were walk-ons and weren't that fast. Over the years, I've just gotten in good work over the summer and workouts with Coach Cap and Coach Harbour and got faster."
            Everroad, who scored in two of the last three meets, said she wants to see the team's ranking continue to rise through the season.
            "We have a lot of freshmen that have a lot of potential, and just the team in general has a lot of potential," she said. "If we all work together and work hard, I think we could really see that ranking go up."
            Friday's meet will be a good test to see where the Bears stack up against a field that includes Texas (ranked 2^ndin the region), SMU (#7), TCU (#14) and UT-Arlington.
            "We'll get to race against them and then again when they come back for conference," Walton said of facing Texas again at the Big 12 Championships on Nov. 2 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. "It should be a good time to see them on our home turf for the first time. . . . I think (Friday) will show a lot to see what our project will be in the future and see how we race against some of the better teams."
            After a disappointing 20^th-place finish at last year's region meet, the Baylor men were not listed in the preseason region rankings that were released earlier this week.
            But, Capron sees a men's team with better depth than usual and a good group of returners in Sugg, sophomore Jeremy Meadows, junior Connor Laktasic and senior Matt Henderson.  And they will get a chance to see how they measure up against a field that includes second-ranked Texas, No. 8 UTA and TCU.
            "Everyone just wants to get out there and feel good, run fast and see where we are based on the work we've put in," Sugg said. "We want to get a good one out of the way and start building from here."
            Including Cal Johnston from nearby Midway High School, Capron was able to redshirt four of last year's freshmen, "which helps the depth equation considerably."
            "My freshman class last year was kind of banged-up before they even got here, so a luxury that I don't usually get is that I redshirted most of my freshman class," Capron said. "Cal was kind of the only freshman we pulled the trigger on. He made it about halfway through the season before we had to throttle him back. So, we'll actually get that season back for Cal, and he's part of our freshman crew this year."
            Baylor will take next weekend off before competing in the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 13 in College Station.

WACO, Texas – Baylor cross country will open the 2019 campaign by hosting the Bear Twilight Invitational Friday at 7 p.m. CT at the Heart of Texas Soccer Complex.

"I'm ready to see them work from a competitive standpoint," associate head coach Jon Capron said. "They've done a good job at practice, but we've only done so much. It's kind of exciting to see the growth. A lot of these guys are pretty ready to go. We won't know until they're at a full-out race. We've been holding them back in a lot of the practices to make sure we get the volume we need per workout, so it will be fun to see how fast they can go."

The Baylor women's team enters the year ranked sixth in the South Central Region preseason rankings, returning several experienced runners including Sarah Antrich, Lindsay Walton, Celia Holmes and Gabby Satterlee.

"On the ladies' side, we're just looking for further growth," Capron said. "It's been exciting to watch some of these girls that maybe didn't see an opening previously, see that opening and say 'You know what, I can do this,' and really step up.

"You think of somebody like Lindsay Walton who has been there, ready to go. Now that she sees that she has a chance to not just be on the team, but help lead this team and step into that role, it's really cool to see. Somebody like Celia who has a year under her belt now and kind of knows what she's up against. She did a great job her freshman year, but I expect the same or more this year. And a girl like Haley (Everroad), who made big strides last year and got to go to the conference meet and did pretty well but knows she's only just beginning to hit her stride."

On the men's side, the Bears look to battle for a spot in the week one regional rankings set to be released on Sept. 16. Connor Laktasic, TJ Sugg, Jeremy Meadows, and Matt Henderson return to lead a talented group looking to step up in 2019.

"The most exciting part on the guys' side is the young depth I have," Capron said. "The fact that I'm going to get four freshmen - we're waiting on Jake (Merrell) still - but having Alec (Atteberry) as a freshman who has a year under his belt, having Ryan Hodge who is in great shape with a year under his belt, and getting Cal (Johnston) back. We'll get his freshman year completely back. So having those guys with experience but yet still being freshmen and then you add the actual true freshmen with Carson Yarbrough and Kade Hulett, I think that's going to be a training group of six guys that could be good going forward for a while."

Competing against the Bears will be Texas, TCU, and UTA as well as SMU in the women's race only. The women's 4,000-meter race will get things started at 7 p.m. CT, and the men's 6,000-meter race will follow immediately after.

"This is just the starter," Capron said. "Everyone who is coming to the meet is in it for the same thing. You have to have a meet to start your practices. We may not see full squads from all of these teams, but we may. It's always fun to mix it up whether it's their full squad or some of their full squad, their best guys or if they're missing a couple guys. There's enough competition for most of these teams top to bottom at this meet, especially given the conditions. It's going to be hot again. It'll be a nice chance for everybody to test their legs in transitioning from summer into true season training."

Full results can be found on BaylorBears.com after the race. For updates on Baylor's cross country team, follow @BaylorTrack on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.