"They had a bunch of upperclassmen that had been with their other coach for so long, I took a while for me to change their mindset," Reep said. "Bit by bit they changed, and then people started hitting (personal records) in workouts and then in races. That's when they began to believe in our system.
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Led by 2004 Southland Conference individual cross country champion Maya Aden, the Warhawks are making their first foray into the Sun Belt coming off a successful fall season. Aden won three individual titles, while taking 26th out of 288 runners at the prestigious Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival, one of the top meets in the country each year. It was the highest finish ever at that event by a ULM runner.
He currently holds the fastest 10K time in school history, and Reep is researching to find out if it is the top 10K time ever by a college runner in Louisiana history. All of that makes Aden one of the favorites to win the race this Saturday. That said, he'd love to win it as part of a team title.
Seniors Matt Brophy and Nathan Hall have joined Aden in providing senior leadership. Freshman Seth Hall ? Nathan's younger brother ?
has also been a key contributor. It won't be easy, though, as South Alabama brings an outstanding team to the meet. Three different Jaguars have won conference runner of the week this year, including 2006 1,500-meter NCAA champion Vincent Rono.
"All five of us need to be in the top 15 (to win the team championship)," Aden said. "I think we can do that, but it is going to take a lot of hard work." As far as the women's team, junior Amanda Bartlett has the best chance to make some noise at the conference meet.
The junior had to withdraw from the Chili Pepper race because of the flu but is fine to run this week. Overall, Reep expects a strong showing from his team in its first Sun Belt championships. He expects being the new guys in the race to be an advantage for the Warhawks.
"(The rest of the conference) has no idea what is coming," Reep said.
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