Aug. 8, 2006

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - All-Great Lakes Valley Conference performer Terran Wertz is the top returning athlete for a 2006 Lewis University women's cross country team looking to ascend in the GLVC standings.

"Our primary goal is to move up to the middle of the pack, not only at the GLVC Championship but also in all the other meets in which we compete," second-year head coach Rick Wemple said.

Wertz, a junior, finished sixth at the 2005 GLVC Championship, but illness limited her to a 55th-place showing at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championship. Wemple believes Wertz may achieve bigger and better things this season.

"Terran is capable of challenging for the conference title," Wemple said, "and she'll be aiming for a strong performance at the regional meet in hopes of earning a bid to the NCAA Championship. She also has her eye on repeating as GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's cross country."

While very pleased to have a No. 1 runner of Wertz's talent, Wemple said the key to improvement for the Flyers is building greater depth around senior Juliann Szablewski.

"Jules was our No. 2 runner in every meet last year, and we're looking for a solid senior season from her," Wemple said. "She and (senior) Amanda Hammond will be our co-captains.

"We definitely should be stronger throughout the rest of the lineup as well. Having (junior) Becky Herbert back at full strength is very important for us, and (junior) Theresa Dexl should be improved after making strides during last track season.

"Kristin Johnson is a junior who will be running cross country for the first time," Wemple continued. "After beginning as a sprinter on the track team, she ran well enough in middle-distance events last spring to indicate that, with the right training, she could contribute in cross country.

"Plus, we have two transfers, (senior) Renee Koziol and (junior) Kelle Lederman, whose times are very comparable to what Jules ran last season."

Having a deeper team should lead to greater success in 2006, as will Wemple's focus on a specific area of training.

"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."