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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 21, 2004 Perfect end in sight for harriers By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings It's pretty amazing when good gets better, especially at just the right moment. For Raider senior Sean Peterson, now couldn't be a more perfect time for him to be running the best times he's ever put out and for SOU to finally have a talented and deep squad of harriers because it gives him the opportunity to have a great finish with a program he has help develop over the past five years. "I've been waiting for this team," Peterson said. "It's nice because I get to end it on top. I'm thankful for that." Ranked No. 11 in the NAIA as of October 15, the Raider men's cross country team has bested every team in Cascade Conference at least once this season - including No. 5 Eastern Oregon and 25th-ranked Western Baptist - and topped everyone in NAIA Region I except No. 2 Simon Fraser. "It's years of hard work," Raider senior Travis Floeck said. "We've been fortunate enough to pick up a couple of new recruits and get a couple of transfers. But really, I think with Sean and me and the people who've been on the team for three of four years ... the success is just feeding off the successes we've had." When Peterson and Floeck, both 22, joined the Raider ranks as freshmen in the fall of 2000, Grier Gatlin was entering his second year as head coach. SOU hadn't qualified as a team to the national meet in modern memory, boasted just seven members and hadn't even beaten rival Eastern Oregon since 1994. Even though the timing may be bittersweet, the chance for Peterson and Floeck to round out their collegiate careers together with this success means a lot to the pair. This year it would take a lot for the Raider men to not finish in the top four at regionals and qualify as a team to nationals. "I think, 'Wow, it would have been so nice to be on such a good team as a freshman,'" Floeck said. "But really, I feel like me and Sean and Grier � have helped build the program." In a month, everything they have worked toward for the past five years will culminate with the NAIA national meet in Louisville, Kent., where the team has a good look at a top-10 finish. "Having been with them for five years now, we've definitely turned a corner and have a good team," Gatlin said. "He [Peterson] and Travis have both been patient. It's paid off, finally." A steep climb Although Peterson now has the second-fastest time on the Raider cross country team this season - 25:27, second to sophomore Trevor Palmer's 25:14 - and intends on besting his 12th-place finish at the regional meet two years ago, cross country hasn't always been so kind to him. As a freshman, the La Salle High grad struggled to adjust to the SOU program and even considered quitting the track team during winter term of his first year. "I came and I hadn't been in a good program before or with other talented runners," Peterson explained. "My habits kind of crossed over and I was barely getting through workouts. It was tough." When Peterson finally got his head on straight - he returned from winter break and found he was so out of shape he had a difficult time keeping up with the team on easy run days - he decided he was "just going to be committed to it from them on." That spring, he shaved 16 seconds off of his 1,500-meter time and raced at nationals in that event. "I was interesting, a whole new concept I hadn't grasped until that point," Peterson said. As a senior, that growth has propelled him to a level where he can find the motivation to train, even when it means he has to do it alone because the class requirements for his degree in graphic design and minor in video production conflict with practice times. "Kids just, they get older and they mature," Gatlin said. "Sean knows how to work hard." One more jewel There's not much Peterson hasn't accomplished on the Southern Oregon University cross country and track and field teams. Peterson owns Raider track records in the 1,500 meters (3:51.81) and the 4x800-meter relay (7:38.55 with Palmer, Dusty Waugh and Jeff Olson), has raced twice at the NAIA track and field national championships and once at cross country nationals. At this point, though, he would really love to triumph as a team so he could share the experience with the guys he's trained with for years. "I think everything's coming together," Peterson said, explaining that the top four Raider harriers have gotten more consistent and the fifth-through-tenth runners are basically interchangeable. "To have that type of depth is going to be huge when we get to regionals or nationals. We're a top-10 team [in the NAIA] for sure and on a really good day, we're a top-5 team." The team's goal to win the conference is attainable, Gatlin claims, and nationals appears to be a realistic step for SOU, especially because the team has finally attracted the attention of the national raters. For years, the program has felt overlooked and, because at-large bids to nationals are based on the NAIA rankings, the Raiders have been within seconds of a trip to the championship meet. "We still have that chip on our shoulders," the coach said. "At this point, we'd really have to blow it at the conference meet to not go to nationals." 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