SAINT MARY'S GAELS
Veterans Look to Push Younger Talent

By Jordan Grief

Four sports highlight the fall semester at Saint Mary's College, with women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer and cross country kicking off the school year's competition for the Gaels. Visit smcgaels.com for news, stats, scores and standings for all your SMC sports needs.

Women's volleyball

Twelve letter winners, including all seven starters return from last season's club for head coach Rob Browning's 2008 campaign with the Gaels. Expectations continue to rise as two heralded recruits join the fold to push the existing players to their limits. Returning stars headlining the roster include sophomore outside hitter Megan York, who collected 19 double-doubles last season and posted a team-high 4.53 kills per game. Middle blockers Megan Burton and Shannon Lowell who finished second and third respectively in the WCC in blocks last season, possess the above-the-net ability to protect the back line. With five seniors now poised to lead the ascent back to the top of the WCC, the Gaels are gunning for a return to the NCAA tournament in December.

Men's soccer

Twelve letter winners, including all seven starters return from last season's club for head coach Rob Browning's 2008 campaign with the Gaels. Expectations continue to rise as two heralded recruits join the fold to push the existing players to their limits. Returning stars headlining the roster include sophomore outside hitter Megan York, who collected 19 double-doubles last season and posted a team-high 4.53 kills per game. Middle blockers Megan Burton and Shannon Lowell who finished second and third respectively in the WCC in blocks last season, possess the above-the-net ability to protect the back line. With five seniors now poised to lead the ascent back to the top of the WCC, the Gaels are gunning for a return to the NCAA tournament in December.

Women's soccer

In her third year at the helm of the Gaels women's soccer team, Kelly Lindsey leads the most talented and veteran side she has coached since arriving in Moraga into an exciting 2008 schedule. Coach Lindsey will pair her highest-rated recruiting class, which ranked as the 14th-best class in the West according to soccerbuzz.com, with a bevy of talented letterwinners returning to forge a brighter future for the Gaels in the fiercely competitive West Coast Conference. Buttressed by four returning seniors, the seasoned squad will look to the experience of Stefani Rocco, Mallory Lee, Danielle Spann and Mika Matsui to lead the Gaels' ascent up the WCC ranks. Coach Lindsey says of that core group of seniors: "They have developed on and off the field so much over the last three years. It will be great to see their hard work and dedication come to fruition on the playing field this upcoming season."

Cross country

The 2008 cross-country season is shaping up to be a promising year for the Saint Mary's Gaels. With the combination of top returning runners and fresh new talent on both the men's and women's squads, the Gaels are gearing up to continue the momentum of their program's improvements from 2007. Leading the lady Gaels, senior Karrie Hagedorn returns for one last season. Hagedorn has led the Gaels in every race for the last two seasons and improved her times by a minute or more each year of competition. In 2007, Hagedorn placed in the top 10 in three of the six regular-season races and led her team as a 25th-place finisher at the WCC championships with a 6K time of 22:42, a time that makes her the second-fastest 6K runner in Gael history.