Mark Covert Classic Information

LOS ANGELES – With the 2018 season beginning this Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Mark Covert Classic in Fullerton, the LMU men's and women's cross country teams have returned to campus with hopes of building upon the men's and women's teams' collective best-ever season last year. In last year's WCC Championship, the women finished third behind two teams who qualified for the NCAA Championship while the men landed sixth. At the NCAA West Regional, the qualification meet for the NCAA Championships, the women were 11th and the men 13th.
 
"It [2017] was the best year we have ever had collectively as a men's and women's team when you look at our results in the West Regional," Lions head coach Scott Guerrero, who enters his 21st season at the helm of the Lions squads, said. "I would say the women had their best race though at the conference championship whereas the men had their best performance at regionals tying their best result in our school's history."
 
Coach Guerrero will look to a mix of veterans and newcomers as the program moves forward into the 2018 season. For Guerrero, some staples of the roster have moved on. All-American Danielle Shanahan has officially started her professional running career with Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite, but she is only one of the nine seniors that graduated last year, some of whom were contributors at the WCC Championship and NCAA West Regional. Yet, with graduation comes a set of excited new faces, fresh and ready for their first taste of Division I athletics.
 
On the women's side, senior Maddi Vorgitch is a top returner this season. Vorgitch was 20th in last year's WCC Championship and 82nd in the NCAA West Regional.  She had a breakout track season where she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary in the 10K where she placed 43rd.  Vorgitch improved on her career best in the 5K (16:48.81) by 19 seconds and 10K (34:41.52) by 42 seconds from the previous year.
 
Joining Vorgitch, senior Giselle Masedo as well as the junior duo of Kyla Danforth and Hannah Wohlenberg look to give the Lions a solid group of three. Danforth was 23rd in the WCC Championship and 93rd in the NCAA West Regional.  Danforth also improved her 5K (17:11.67) by eight seconds.  Wohlenberg has run 9:56.31 in the 3K and 17:04.34 in the 5K on the track.
 
Newcomers to the women's team include three freshmen Perri Bockrath, Grace Catena, and Raina Hines. 
 
Bockrath, from Archbishop Alter High School in Kettering, Ohio, comes to LMU with personal bests of 4:58.70 in the 1600 meters and 10:37.36 in the 3200 meters. She was the runner-up at the OHSAA Division 2 Championships in the 3200 meters and her 10:37.36 in that race ranks her 34th amongst graduating seniors in the nation in the event.  Catena is a local product from Palos Verdes High School and was eighth in the 2017 Division 3 CIF State Cross Country Championship in the fall while running 5:02.52 in the 1600 meters on the track. Catena was also crowned champion of the 2018 Bay League Finals in the 1600 meters.  Hines, from West Linn High School in Oregon, finished 26th at the 2017 OSAA 6A State Cross Country Championships.
 
The Lion men are returning their top runner from last year, Jack Polerecky, who is coming off a strong track season in which he finished 43rd in the 10K at the NCAA Championship West Preliminary. Like Vorgitch, Polerecky had his best track season of his career. He improved upon his own school record in the 10K by 12 seconds to 29:18.14.  He also ran a career best in the 5K running 14:03.12 improving on his previous best by 14 seconds. Polerecky also had the best cross country campaign of his career, finishing 23rd at the WCC Championships and 50th at the NCAA West Regional.  
 
Led by Polerecky and a strong senior class behind him, the men return five of their conference competitors from last season to include seniors Koby Pederson, Branden Estrada and Joey Rodgers as well as sophomore Simeon Paul. Pederson had a breakout track season, improving his 5K by 39 seconds running 14:14.00.  Pederson also ran the second-fastest 1500 meters in LMU history with a time of 3:49.58.
 
The men welcome in a group of five new runners including transfer Solomon Demeku-Ousman and freshmen Zach Arias, Ethan Frisone, Max Himmelright, and Max Smith. 
 
Demeku-Ousman has career bests of 9:17.21 in the 3K Steeplechase, 14:51.31 in the 5K and 3:53.42 in the 1500 meters.  Arias is from Ayala High School in Chino Hills, Calif. He had a stellar career as a Bulldog, running 4:18.92 in the 1600 meters and 9:04.52 in the 3200 meters. Smith, from Del Rio High School in Texas, has run 4:18.45 in the 1600 meters and 9:27.27 in the 3200 meters. He was also seventh in the UIL 6A State Cross Country Championships. Frisone comes to LMU from Valencia High School and has run 4:23.28 for 1600 meters on the track and 15:07.7 in cross country for the 5K. Himmelright, from the powerhouse Jesuit High School in Oregon, was part of the Cross Country State Championship team finishing 12th overall in the race. With the new group joining what is already an ascending program, hopes are high for a strong showing from the LMU men.