New Coach, New Start
   By Jenny Jackson

Upon the untimely and abrupt loss of head coach Amber Daulbaugh to Webster University, Blackburn’s cross country team called upon one of its own to fill the position. Travis Neel, who graduated from Blackburn in May 2005, has recently been hired as the paid interim head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country teams for the 2005 season.

Neel graduated from Carlinville High School where he ran cross country for three years. Having also run for Blackburn’s Cross Country team for four years and being named most valuable runner for two, Neel is both familiar with the school’s program and seems more than eager to take on the task.

With the season’s first meet approaching for both the men and the women Sept. 17 at Maryville University, the team is working hard with their new coach to prepare.

Team members include last year’s MVP’s Jessie Koerkenmeier, who finished 15th with a time of 28:09 and Richard Mordini, who finished 25th with a time of 30:06 at the SLIAC conference at Hillsboro last October; other returning runners include Betsy Scarpaci and Jennifer Smith; and a host of newcomers, including Harry Senaldi, a promising freshman from Staunton, IL.

Neel has hopes of good performances at this year’s SLIAC conference again at Hillsboro in October as opposed to last year’s fifth place spot.

“This year, both the men and women should perform much better at conference because our workouts place more emphasis on combining mileage, strength, and speed. By the time we get to conference, racing will seem like a day off for these athletes because of how hard they will work during the rest of the week,” Neel said.
Evident from Clevenger’s statement, Neel’s coaching strategy focuses on a number of different areas for improving the athlete’s performances.

Newcomer Rusty Clevenger had this to say about Neel, “He works with individuals on form and their individual goals, but then also stresses teamwork as a team quality. The team seems to be doing a good job so far at least that’s what Travis tells us.

He pushes those who want to be pushed and helps those who are having problems. He is at the moment trying to grasp what our strengths and weaknesses are, along with what our limits are... He runs what we run plus more.”

Neel described his coaching strategy as “an effort to integrate every aspect of running including speed, strength, endurance, technique, mental and physical discipline, the dichotomy of teamwork versus individual will and the coalescence of the mental, physical, and spiritual experience of running.” With a clear idea in his own mind, his runners have great confidence in his abilities.

Runner Jessie Koerkenmeier commented, “We are very lucky that Travis has accepted the coaching position. He will be a great asset to our team. Travis is very knowledgeable of what we need to do to prepare for the season. His years of experience running competitively gives him good insight on what kind of practice workouts we need to be doing and how to prevent injuries.

Also, he is very motivated and knows how to motivate the team, even when the practices are really tough. Travis is an excellent leader and role model for the cross country team.”

Neel will need all the support he can get from his runners with the full plate ahead of him this semester. Not only is he the head coach for the team, he is also a graduate student at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville and is a teacher’s assistant for an “Introduction to Western Civilization” class offered at the school.

With encouragement from his team, Neel has a positive support system to inspire effective leadership throughout the season. He seems more than optimistic for the upcoming months.

Commenting on his expectations, Neel said, “I don’t have any specific expectations in regards to the season. However, I do anticipate that the athletes will work hard to achieve their goals, and my job is simply to give them the tools to do so.”