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Saint Martin’s University junior Spencer Hunt, making his first appearance at nationals, had been keeping an eye on the Bluegrass State for the previous week.
The thermometer read 70 degrees on first glance – unusually high for the first part of December in that part of the country.
Upon Hunt’s arrival, though, the weather changed drastically.
“It dropped to 60 degrees the very next day after I got there then to 50 the day after that,” Hunt remembered. “Then we got snow.”
Hunt awoke the day of nationals to discover a 3-inch blanket of snow on the ground – making a difficult 10k race against the nation’s top cross country runners even harder.
“You’re not just competing against other runners and times in cross country,” said Hunt, who finished a strong 85th in Louisville, stopping the clock in 32 minutes, 30 seconds. “You’re competing against the course and the elements. It’s what I love about this sport. You never know what you’re going to get in cross country.”
The Saints, however, have a pretty good idea they are going to have a solid team this season. Saint Martin’s features two of the top distance runners in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in Hunt and fellow senior Kyle Van Santen.
Both are coming off junior campaigns in which they were named to the all-conference team – the second consecutive year Van Santen earned that distinction – and both are eyeing the national championships.
Hunt, from Onalaska, had one goal after a sophomore season that was cut short because of injuries – catch Van Santen.
“That’s all I wanted to do two years ago, become a better runner so I was at his level,” Hunt said. “We just push each other now. There really aren’t any bad days of training because you are surrounded by great runners who push you.”
The motivation paid off for both runners last year.
Hunt placed ninth at both the GNAC and NCAA Division II West Regional Championships while qualifying for the national championships and was selected to the all-region team.
Although he failed to join Hunt in Kentucky, Van Santen had an equally impressive season, finishing 10th at the GNAC championships and 16th at the regional championships, as well as setting a school record for the outdoor 5K (14:16.11).
“If one of us has a bad day, we know the other isn’t, so it really keeps your training consistent,” said Van Santen, who is from Lake Stevens. “When I first got here I had runners like (All-American) John Riak. I became a better runner because of who I was training with.”
Hunt and Van Santen finished first and second, respectively, in SMU’s first meet of the season Saturday – an 8K run at Fort Steilacoom, with the University of Puget Sound playing host.
Hunt finished in 25:26, while Van Santen was directly behind him in 25:27.
Overall team depth is the biggest difference this year than in previous seasons.
The Saints also got a fifth-place finish from Joe Berger (27:02), a sixth place from Joseph Patti (27:22) and a 16th place from Frank Krause (28:11) in winning the overall men’s team title with 26 points.
“Depth has always been our biggest weakness here,” Van Santen said. “We’ve had a lot of outstanding runners in the program over the last few years, but we just didn’t have the depth to compete with bigger schools at some of the meets.
“This year we have it, and it has us thinking about not just individual titles at nationals, but a team title as well.”
The Saints continue their season on Sept. 17 at the UW Sundodger Invitational in Seattle.
MEN’S SOCCER
Coach: Rob Walker (fifth season)
2010: 7-11-0 overall, 2-8-0 GNAC (tie fifth)
Key returners: F Xan Nixon, 6-0, sr.; D Tony Armitage 5-10, sr.; F Dylan Gaydosh, 6-1, soph.; M Austin Kelley, 6-2, sr.; D Brandon Scott, 5-6, jr.; M Ricco Sanchez, 5-10, sr.; D James Schmid, 5-10, sr.; M Blake Moreland, 6-1, jr.; D Andrew Cunningham, 6-2, so.; M CJ Chu, 5-11, soph.; M Kramer Cross, 5-10, sr.
Outlook: The team dropped its season opener to Cal State LA, 6-0, on Friday, but bounced back Saturday for a 1-0 victory over UC San Diego following Kelley’s goal in the 83rd minute. Walker, just two seasons removed from leading the Saints to their first GNAC regular-season title, welcomes back seven starters and 16 letter winners. Nixon and Armitage, who combined for six goals and two assists in 2010, both earned honorable mention all-GNAC honors.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Coach: Rob Walker (fifth season)
2010: 8-10-0 overall, 7-7-0 GNAC (fifth place)
Key returners: F Sammi Thompson, 5-7, soph.; M Noelle Bauer, 5-3, soph.; D Caley Wiseman, 5-0, jr.; GK Gina Cardenas, 5-10, soph.; GK Ashley Engel, 5-8, jr.; D Lia Swartout, 5-5, jr.; D Molly Campbell, 5-8, soph.
Outlook: The Saints fell to Cal State LA, 2-0, Thursday, followed by a 1-0 loss to Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday. The Saints are the youngest team in the GNAC with 15 players seeing their first collegiate action, including 14 freshmen. Engel, one of two seniors, returns after missing the 2010 season. She posted seven shutouts and had a 1.09 goals-against average in 2009.
VOLLEYBALL
Coach: Phil Ibarra (seventh season)
2010: 2-22 overall, 1-17 GNAC (10th place)
Key returners: MB Katy Ferguson, 6-1, jr.; MB Teilissa Tua, 6-0, jr.; RS Kristeen Juarez, 5-11, sr.; L Brianna Bautista, 5-1, sr.; S Cymbree Decosta, 5-5, soph.; OH Erica Edwards, 5-7, soph.; DS Kristin Okamura, 5-0, soph.; OH Kailah Nettle (Lenz), 5-10, soph.
Outlook: The Saints started their 2011 season by going 1-3 at the Humboldt State Invitational, winning their first match over Notre Dame de Namur, 3-2. Kristyn Ross, a 2011 Capital graduate, led the Saints in kills throughout the tournament, including match-highs of 24 against Notre Dame de Namur and Academy of Art. The Saints return eight letter winners from a 2-22 season in 2010, including Ferguson, who ranked second on the team in kills per set (1.87) and the team leader in blocks in 2010. Tua registered 131 kills and 62 blocks in all 84 sets last season. Bautista was the Saints’ digs leader (4.38 per set). Decosta returns at setter after not playing last season. The team features five players from Hawaii and five from South Sound.
CROSS COUNTRY
Coach: Julie Sullivan (sixth season)
2010: Men – fifth place at GNAC championships; women – ninth place at GNAC championships.
Key returners: Men – Spencer Hunt, sr.; Kyle Van Santen, sr.; women – Joscelyn Minton, jr.; Kaitlynn Pecha, soph.; Ashley Llapitan, soph.
Outlook: The men’s team started strong with Saturday’s victory at the four-team invitational hosted by the University of Puget Sound. Spencer Hunt and Kyle Van Santen went 1-2 in the men’s 8K race. Hunt advanced to the NCAA Division II national meet last December, placing 85th (32:30) on the 10K course and had the best finish of any SMU runner at last year’s GNAC meet (ninth). Minton became the first woman from SMU to win all-conference honors at last year’s GNAC championships, placing 10th (22:49). Minton won the women’s 6K race at the UPS Invitational on Saturday (24:02), leading the Saints to a third-place finish.
GOLF
Coaches: Kevin Bishop (men); Bob Grisham (women)
2010: Men – second place at GNAC championships; women – second place at GNAC championships
Key returners: Men – Zach Dietz, sr.; Matt Epstein, sr.; women – Jennifer Kent, sr.; Karly Olsen, sr.
Outlook: Dietz (222) and Olsen (154) were runners-up at the GNAC men’s and women’s championships, respectively, last season. Dietz helped the Saints to a 14th-place finish at the West Regional championships, and placed 36th (221) individually. Kent was last year’s GNAC newcomer of the year and earned second-team all-GNAC honors.
Capsules by Meg Wochnick, staff writer
