August 31, 2005

LACEY, WA—The Saint Martin's men's Cross Country team entered the GNAC Championships last season as the top ranked team in the conference and fourth in the Western Region, the highest such ranking in school history. The Saints men plan to re-write the record books again this season.

The Saint men lost two of their top seven varsity runners from last season, however, have reloaded with an outstanding runner in redshirt freshman, John Riak (Fr., Lacey, WA/North Thurston). Saints head coach Brad Hooper, is confident in Riak’s ability to take the GNAC by storm. “Riak has the ability to vie for the GNAC championship, just as Andy Prentice (Nine Mile Falls, WA/Lakeside) did the previous two years.” Riak comes to SMU with an impressive high school resume. He finished in the Top 25 at the 2003 3A Cross Country Championships, while also placing 4th in the 3A boys 1600m run with a time of 4:19 and 6th in the 3A boys 800m run at the 2004 State Track Meet.

The Saint men welcome back Tris O’Bluck (Jr., Mukawanago, WI/Mukawanago) from injury. O'Bluck, 2003 GNAC Freshman-of- the-Year and All-GNAC selection, placed 10th two years ago at the GNAC Championship Meet.

Coach Hooper, in his 10th year at the helm, is pleased with the mileage put in during the summer of training from Robbie Wilbur (Jr., Spanaway, WA/Spanaway Lake), Seth Woods (Jr., Lacey, WA/Northwest Christian), Steven La Londe (So., Centralia, WA/Centralia), Caleb Timmer (Jr., Tacoma, WA/Tacoma Baptist) and Brent Christensen (So., Cottage Grove, OR/Cottage Grove).

“We are looking very strong for the upcoming season; we have a very hard working team. With the addition of four quality freshman, we have the deepest team in school history. Coach Sullivan and I are looking forward to having a top quality team,” said Hooper.

In addition to Riak, the key newcomers for the men’s squad include: Niwar Nasim (Fr., Tacoma, WA/Wilson), Adam Goff (Lacey, WA/Northwest Christian), and Rich Thomas (Fr., Boise, ID).

The Saint women seek to build on their strong campaign in 2004. Coach Hooper is excited about their potential, “As of right now, we have the fastest 1-5 runners in team history.” The Saints lost their number two and three runners from last year, but have reloaded with a couple of extremely talented freshman in Taylor Shipman (Fr., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum) and Jessica Pendon (Fr., Spanaway, WA/Spanaway Lake). Shipman, a top runner on the 3A state championship team, finished in the top 25 individually with a time of 19:54 in the 5k state championship race. She was named to the 2004 East/West Senior All-Star team for being one of the Top 15 3A senior girls cross country runners in the state, finishing 10th in the prestigious all-star race. Pendon finished in the Top 40 at the 2004 USATF National Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships.

Coach Hooper is quick to compliment the three returning varsity harriers from last year on their commitment to summer training. Janelle Probst (So., Spokane, WA/Mead), Saints top runner in 2004 and 10K school record holder in Track, is ready to resume her top form after a summer of putting the rubber to the pavement. Nicole “Dharma” Beatty (Sr., Port Angeles, WA/Port Angeles) returns for her senior year with a great summer of training under her belt. Kaleigh Bishop (So., Stanwood, WA/Stanwood) who came on at the end of last season is ready to go for her sophomore campaign, while Katelynn Blume (Jr., Olympia, WA/Timberline) is “running better than she ever has,” according to Hooper.

Coach Hooper states, “We have the makings of our best men’s and women’s teams at the same time for the 2005 season. As a coaching staff, the potential excites us very much. We have several runners who love to race, and that is what separates good teams from REALLY good teams. We’re ready to roll, here come the Saints!”

Come support our Saints runners on Sept 24th as they host the SMU Invite on our very own campus!!!