Basic HTML Version
2013 Cross Country Media Guide
Southern Illinois Cross Country
SIUSalukis.com
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2012 Season Review/2013 Preview
Expectations have rarely been higher in recent
years for both the men’s and women’s cross country
programs at Southern Illinois. Head coach Matt
Sparks, who captains both squads, will look to
maintain the momentum in the men’s program
after last season’s Missouri Valley Conference
championship, and he’ll look to steer one of the
more talented women’s teams of his tenure to its first
MVC title in 21 years.
The Saluki men cruised to victory at last season’s
conference meet with a
remarkable five all-conference
runners that finished within
the top-10 -- the most during
Coach Sparks’ time at SIU and
the most in the Valley since
2009 (Indiana State, five).
Zach Dahleen (second), Brian
Dixon (sixth), Nick Schrader
(seventh), Oscar Medina
(ninth) and Juan Carrera (10th)
all earned All-MVC honors
and claimed Southern’s 13th
MVC men’s title in its history
and the fourth under Sparks’
tutelage.
Southern’s men proved
just as successful at the
NCAA Midwest Regional in
Springfield, Mo., where they
finished ninth. The highlight
of the meet for the Salukis
was the performance of junior
Brian Dixon.
Dixon, a former walk-
on and native of Springfield,
Ill., finished 19th overall and
earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors and a berth to
compete at the NCAA Championships in Louisville,
Ky. He was the first Saluki in three seasons to qualify
for finals and the fifth Saluki to qualify under Coach
Sparks. At the NCAA Finals, Dixon finished 143rd.
“We came into the (2012) season with a lot of
question marks with a young team,” Sparks said.
“We knew Zach Dahleen was going to be a leader
for us on the course, but we weren’t quite sure
about everyone else.”
The Saluki women notched their best finish in
six years at last season’s conference meet, where
they finished third on the backs of five young but
talented runners who finished in the top-30: Sadie
Darnell (11th), Kelley Gallagher (15th), Kristen
Levi (18th), Alyssa Allison (24th) and Lacey Gibson
(28th).
Looking ahead to 2013, both Saluki teams
should prove to be formidable in the very
competitive Missouri Valley Conference.
“We’ve returned
everyone off of a fairly
successful campaign on both
sides,” Sparks said. “We know
who we are a bit more than
we did a year ago. It’s just
a matter of how much can
we progress since the track
season?”
The Saluki men return
all five All-MVC athletes from
2012, their sixth best finisher
last season, Evan Ehrenheim
(19th), and 2011 All-MVC
honoree Cole Allison. If the
men were to repeat as MVC
champions it would only be
the third time in school history
the Saluki men have won
consecutive championships.
Sparks won back-to-back titles
in 2007-08, and SIU won four
consecutive titles under two
different head coaches (Lew
Hartzog and Bill Cornell) from
1980-83.
“We’re just trying to
maintain and improve upon what we did last year
with a strong conference finish and maintain our
position there, but we’re trying to look at things on a
more national perspective now,” Sparks said.
“After a successful 2012 season from a
conference-side of things, we ran relatively well at
the regional meet but we want to try and improve
upon that regional finish and see if we can knock off
a few Big Ten or Big 12 teams that might allow us to
gain a national berth.”