Aug. 8, 2006

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - A veteran group of athletes strongly dedicated to excellence is head coach Rick Wemple's characterization of his 2006 Lewis University men's cross country team.

Lewis returns 13 runners from the team that finished a solid second at the 2005 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship. Six competitors who were among the Flyers' top seven at last season's conference and NCAA regional meets, including All-American and GLVC champion Andy Tremble, are part of the returning group.

Wemple is confident that Lewis has enough talent to dethrone defending GLVC champion Southern Indiana and qualify for the NCAA Division II Championship. The second-year mentor also believes the Flyers adapted well to his coaching philosophy and training methods a year ago, giving this year's team the advantage of knowing what to expect from the outset of the season.

"One of the things I like most about this team is that we have an even stronger front pack than we had last year," Wemple said. "That will give us a great chance to bring the GLVC title back to Lewis, but Southern Indiana is going to be just as good as it was last year. We expect a fierce battle at the conference meet."

Tremble, who followed his GLVC Championship victory with a sixth-place effort at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championship and a 32nd-place performance at the NCAA Division II Championship, is one of four Flyer seniors. In addition to his accomplishments on the course, he was named GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's cross country.

"Andy will be going hard after a repeat of the conference championship and the Scholar-Athlete award," Wemple said. "He could challenge for the regional title if everything falls into place, and I think a top-20 national finish is a very attainable goal for him."

Junior Sinan Khamo and senior Larry Anzalone narrowly missed joining Tremble on the 2005 All-GLVC team (top 10), finishing 11th and 13th, respectively, at the conference meet. Junior Andrew Northrup placed 17th in the GLVC before charging up to claim the Flyers' No. 2 spot (26th overall) at the regional.

"Andy, Sinan, Larry and Andrew should be consistently at or near the front of the pack in every one of our races," Wemple said.

Although Wemple isn't sure which of the Flyers will complete the top five, he anticipates a competitive battle among several runners that will make the team stronger.

"At this point I see four other athletes who may crack the top five," Wemple said. "(Juniors) Alberto Villa (28th in the GLVC) and Emory Burdette (30th in the GLVC) made big jumps and moved into our top seven last season, and I look for (sophomore) Jeff Ritzema to make great improvement and be right there. Mark Martinez is a freshman who has the talent to be in the top five; where he fits in will depend on how quickly he adjusts to collegiate distances."

Also returning are seniors Mike Eck and Adrian Myers; juniors Jared Lauer and Evan Sather; and sophomores Ryan Sather and Ryan Stephenson.

"I'm very confident we have the ability to win the conference championship and be one of the five Great Lakes Region teams to reach the NCAA Championship," Wemple said. "We have a group of student athletes with talent, experience and the proper attitude, and that gives us a great chance to realize our goals."

Also expected to enhance the Flyers' chance for success is a focus on training for the type of course they will encounter late in the season.

"Last year, we weren't as prepared as we should have been to run the hilly courses we saw," Wemple said. "The courses we'll run at the conference and regional meets this season are hilly, so we'll work hard on preparing for that challenge."