24th USF Cross Country Invitational:
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SAN FRANCISCO – The nationally-ranked San Francisco women's cross country team sets out on the 2016 season on Saturday, hosting the 24th USF Cross Country Invitational at Golden Gate Park during the first weekend of competition.

The Dons will host top regional talent on the newly-redrawn 2K loop around Hellman Hollow (formerly known as Speedway Meadow) and the adjacent polo field. The women's will complete three circuits around the course, while the men tackle a fourth to finish the 8K race.

Along with the Dons, Pacific, Santa Clara and Saint Mary's will represent the West Coast Conference on the day. Other notable teams participating include Stanford, ranked No. 4 on the men's side and No. 7 for the women, nationally, and fellow Bay Area squads California, San Jose State and top-tier NCAA Division II competition from Academy of Art.

The women will kick off the day's action at 9:30 a.m., while the men toe the line at 10:15 a.m.

"We'll open up this weekend for both teams," said USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "Both squads look really good. We've never been as good across the board on both sides as we are right now. Overall – fitness, mentality, physicality – in every single way, we are better."

With a quote by Henry David Thoreau gracing the lineup board in the Dons' cross country office, USF enters the 2016 campaign with high expectations on both the men's and women's side, and a determination to live the phrase written at the top of the board – "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!"

That dream for the team includes a keen eye on culminating the season atop the WCC and with a berth in the NCAA Cross Country Championships field.

USF's women currently sit at No. 20 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches of America (USTFCCCA) preseason poll, its third preseason ranking in the last four years. The Dons are coming off a No. 28 finish in 2015 and return a roster full of depth and experience at the national level.

"This weekend, we'll run Charlotte Taylor, Elena Burkard, Tatjana Schulte, Daryl Phill, Kelsey Nielsen and Emma Stahr, all from our NCAA championship team last year," said Lehman-Winters. "In addition to that, we're running Frederique Latraverse in her first cross country race in uniform."

Latraverse isn't the only new face that will take to the course this season, as New Mexico transfer Heleene Tambet brings a wealth of talent from her time on the NCAA champion Lobos squad, and freshman Isabelle Brauer is expected to factor into the USF lineup as well. Not running this weekend but sure to stay high in the mix is Weronika Pyzik, the WCC's Freshman of the Year from a season ago, adding to the stout Dons' lineup.

"We're deeper than we've ever been," noted Lehman-Winters. "I think our depth is definitely a strength that will help us throughout the regular season and then obviously help us as we get to the end of the season. Obviously, Charlotte, Weronika and Elena led our team last year and they will lead our team again this year but we anticipate that Marie Bouchard will provide some further strength up front. Heleene beat every single female that we had on our team in last year's national meet, so I anticipate that she will factor in as well. Who our top seven are going to be, I don't know."

While unranked nationally, the men hold down the No. 9 slot in the West Region rankings, its highest start to the season ever. The West, 2015's deepest region, has each of the top eight teams returning at least four runners, paced by the PAC-12's Oregon, Stanford and Washington.

"Last year we definitely battled a little bit of that learning curve," said Lehman-Winters. "Four of our top five guys had never competed in the NCAA, and I think now coming back and having had that experience and knowing what they're up against puts us in a much better spot than we were in last year. Add the progress that they've actually made on the track as well. They all ran personal bests on this spring and got better. I think we have our best men's team that we've ever had."

Sliding in just under Cal in the region, the Dons also return a solid core from last year's squad, including NCAA individual qualifier Alex Short.
"Obviously Alex will lead our team again, and then that sort of next core group is Ryan Driscoll, Edward Shepherd, Mohamed Aziz and Ben Alcock has slipped pretty seamlessly into that training group. Caleb McClain has made tremendous progress since a year ago and he's in a completely different place as well."

The men's path to the NCAAs will be more arduous than that of the women with no option to earn points at the Wisconsin Invitational next month. Despite the challenge, Lehman-Winters is optimistic that her squad is up to the task of finding a way to get to the national stage.

"Unfortunately, because our men are not invited to Wisconsin we're at a distinct disadvantage, and the Roy Griak Invitational becomes and important stepping stone on the season. We have the tools, but really there's just no margin for error. You've got to have the right guys, and I do feel like we have the right guys."

After the tuneup at the USF Invitational on Saturday, USF enjoys a three-week hiatus before heading to Minnesota for the Griak on Sept. 24. The big next weekend to circle on the calendar will be the Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 14 for the women, and the Pre-National Invitational in Terra Haute, Ind., a day later for the men.

The next marquee weekend for the Dons is a trip to San Diego for the WCC Championships on Oct. 28. There, USF will face off against top national and regional competitors on both the men's and women's side, BYU and Portland, along with the full slate of WCC squads.

"On the women's side, there are three conference teams ranked in the top eight of the region (USF – 5th, Portland – 6th, Gonzaga – 8th), and we've never seen that," added Lehman-Winters. "Our conference is stronger than it ever has been, and that's not including BYU who is ranked fourth in the Mountain Region. We anticipate that Portland and BYU will be the next top two teams that we'll have to contend with to win a conference title. It's not going to be easy.

"Portland will have a really good team. Lauren LaRocco was an all American at the 5 and 10K, so up front on paper they're better than we are. But Charlotte has made tremendous progress from the spring, and she really has transformed into a distance runner. She's now been able to string together probably the most consistent running in her life, so she looks really good. With what she demonstrated in her first season of cross country, followed up with making the NCAA final in the 10K and the progress that she's made since then, she is very capable of being a to 25 runner in the country and leading us back to the WCC podium. It's going to be a fun year."

Spectators are welcome and encouraged to watch the Dons begin the 2016 campaign at Golden Gate Park on Saturday morning at the USF Invitational. Hellman Hollow stretches out along the south side of John F. Kennedy Drive – just west of Transverse Drive (off of 25th Avenue), and free parking for Speedway Meadow is found along JFK Drive.