Wahine ready to put season-long training to the test in WAC meet

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

By design, Saturday's Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships will be the first true race of the season for host Hawai'i.

The Wahine competed in eight meets during the regular season, placing first as a team four times.

But those races were little more than extra training days, according to associate coach Andy McInnis.

"We haven't really been in a team meet yet because I've given different runners specific objectives for each race," he said. "In all of these competitions, the results weren't significant. I might tell one of our runners, 'Run your fastest 3 kilometers,' and, in a 5-kilometer race, as far as I'm concerned the other two kilometers wouldn't count."

Several of UH's regular season meets came at the end of intense training weeks.

"It might have been frustrating for them," McInnis said. "Normally you're going to crash with hard training. The muscles simply don't come back for competitive results. But I think the results have been outstanding in the midst of that heavy training."

McInnis said all the team's efforts during the regular season have been focused on the WAC and regional championships. Good performances there could help UH earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships, something UH has never achieved as a team.

"I think we have to do something dramatic like win the WAC, go to the regionals and finish in the top five or six," McInnis said. "That might put us in a position to go as a team to the NCAA Championships."

Saturday's meet is scheduled for 8 a.m. at Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course. The Wahine played host to (and won) the Hawai'i Invitational at the same site in September.

The Wahine have gone over the course twice in the last week.

"We went over a few points where we can push it," said junior Diane Kohara. "We kind of know the course, so we should be able to improve on our performance."

The Wahine will be led by seniors Cheryl Smith, Casey McGuire-Turcotte, Courtney Barlow and Kohara.

Smith, who recorded the squad's fastest 5K time (16 minutes, 56.33 seconds) this season, could be the first individual Hawai'i runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships, McInnis said.

"If anyone can carry the burden of that potential, it's Cheryl," he said.

McInnis said he also has high expectations for McGuire-Turcotte, a 1,500 meter runner who has steadily improved at the 5K distance.

"Every week she's making big progress and big breakthroughs," he said. "She's probably one of the most highly talented women we have on the team."

McInnis praises Barlow, the Wahine's No. 3 runner, for her attitude and positive influence on the rest of the team. But, McInnis said he'd like to see Barlow and some of the other runners "become a little more ruthless when the gun goes off.

"I'd like them to be really mean girls during the race," he said.

As for Kohara, McInnis said she could be one of the keys to a UH victory.

"Diane has a tremendous amount of talent, she just hasn't learned how to compete with it yet," he said. "She's definitely a darkhorse for the team and we're going to need her to come through for this team to be successful. We're going to really turn the flames up under her this weekend."

Ultimately, for Hawai'i to produce the kind of performance necessary to garner an at-large berth, McInnis said he'll need a total team effort.

"Nine of them will line up at the starting line and No. 9 is just as important as No. 1," he said.