UMD Cross Country Enters Season With Experience

Coaches poll places Bulldogs at fourth in NSIC

DULUTH, Minn.- With the fall sports season quickly approaching, both of UMD’s cross country teams have laced up their sneakers as they chase their first conference team championship in over 20 years.

In last week’s NSIC Coaches poll, both the Bulldogs’ men’s and women’s cross country teams were selected to finish fourth in the conference. Head Coach Brette Jensen is excited to see how some of her top returning runners improve upon their times this fall.

“We’ve got a great group of veterans.” says Jensen, who’s entering her second season at the helm. “They’ve been around for three or four years now at this point, and it’s just been kind of awesome to see them really develop into a leadership role and really take that on naturally. It’s kind of the best part of being a coach is watching them develop as people, too.”

Individually, seniors Jack Van Kempen and Lauryn Renier have been listed among this fall’s NSIC Athletes to Watch. Van Kampen says he and the rest of his teammates are eager to exceed expectations.

“There’s definitely a little bit of added pressure now that, you know, I’m not the young guy anymore.” explains Van Kampen, who had the Bulldogs’ best overall 8K time in a race last season (25:05.2). “Other guys are looking up to me, but I think the fact that we’ve got pretty much everyone returning, we’ve got a lot of guys that have experience. We’ve (also) got some really talented young guys coming in, just people who have been here before who are ready to show these next guys how to do it.” Van Kempen also praised his team’s camaraderie. “If you here us run, or you see us running, we’re always talking, we’re always chatting. It’s a great time. We’re just like a group of brothers and it’s really awesome.”

The Bulldogs are headed to Falcon Heights, MN to open their season at the Oz Memorial on September 1. They’ll have a quick turnaround on September 7 when they host the Bulldog Open at Lester Park.