By ALEX AGUEROS
Sports Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Central Missouri cross-country opens the season Saturday at the Southwest Baptist Invite in Bolivar, Missouri. Preseason rankings placed the Mules No. 6 and the Jennies No. 8 in the conference. The Mules and Jennies finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in last year’s MIAA championships.

The program will compete without their longtime head coach, Kirk Pedersen, who is out with illness. Volunteer assistant coach and UCM graduate Ben Barrows will split coaching duties with head track and field coach Kip Janvrin.

Barrows said the rosters are young on both sides and development is key.

“For a young team, we want them to stay injury-free, and just have a good experience here in athletics and in the classroom,” Barrows said. “We want this to be a good place for them to live their lives, and hopefully we can move forward and learn from this year.”

Janvrin offered a simpler objective for the teams.

“We’re trying to callous them to the training,” Janvrin said. “We’re trying to get them to handle more volume and mileage.”

Large freshman classes boosted this year’s rosters. The men have eight freshmen, while the Jennies have nine freshmen on one of their largest rosters in program history. With many new faces and two “new” coaches, getting to know the athletes has been a focus.

“We spend a lot of time with them,” Barrows said. “When you spend that much time with a team, it’s hard not to get to know somebody. You just ask them about other areas of their life other than running.”

Janvrin said teams bond most during extended road trips. The team will bus as far as Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 26.

“As we get into our travel part of our season, as we make trips, then that’s where we learn more about personalities and some of their backgrounds,” Janvrin said. “When we get to long trips to Minnesota, that are overnight … then you really get to learn about kids, and that’s kind of the fun times.

“It’s not always about towing the line and racing. It’s really about the friendships they make and the lifelong stuff that goes beyond.”

The Mules graduated MIAA top-20 finishers Adam Tredway and Austin Gott, and the Jennies graduated all-MIAA selection Megan Glamann.

Barrows said new leaders are starting to emerge.

“We’ve kind of needed some people to step up this year, and people have been stepping up,” Barrows said. “We’ve got very few upperclassmen on the team but those few are doing a great job. Really, it’s turning them into better people. They realize they need to step up … they know the younger runners are looking up to them.”

Barrows cited senior Michael Gawlick as a potential team leader. Gawlick was the team’s top finisher at regionals last season.

“He’s looking to do that again, I think,” Barrows said.

Allie Rexroat, who exhausted her cross-country eligibility last season, will train with the Jennies this season.

“It’s great having her around,” Barrows said. “She’s still putting in the miles.”

Janvrin said senior Coleen Grone is also “holding some pieces together” for the team. He said the team has been more united than usual.

“As far as the kids showing up for morning runs, it’s better than it’s ever been,” Janvrin said. “The team as a whole has bought in, and that’s all we can ask.”

Barrows said this makes his job easy.

“Most of the kids, minus the freshmen, know how our training program works, and that’s just how well Kirk (Pedersen) had it ingrained in everybody,” Barrows said. “They pretty much know what to do.”

The MIAA is stacked with talent going into the 2015 cross-country season. As Central Missouri develops two freshmen-laden rosters, Barrows said the top of the conference is crowded.

Nebraska-Kearney topped the men’s preseason poll and earned six first-place votes. Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern followed the Lopers. On the women’s side, Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist are tied at the top of the poll.

“I see a lot of teams that have a shot at a conference title,” Barrows said. “A lot of teams that have great top two or three runners … on paper there are a lot of good-looking teams.”

Barrows and Janvrin are in a unique situation. They enter this season without Pedersen or high preseason rankings. But Janvrin said a large roster for both teams might provide “strength in numbers.”

“We’ve got a lot of unknown kids, a lot of unknown tangibles,” Janvrin said. “But at the same time I like everything about them … there’s a lot of heart in this team.”