Dec. 2, 2004

After making nine straight NCAA West Regional appearances from 1987-95, the Gonzaga University men's cross country team went on a 7-year hiatus before returning to the event in 2003. The Bulldogs followed that with a repeat appearance in 2004 and the program shows no signs of slowing down in the future as the GU returns four of its top runners next season.

"My plan is for this program to continue to grow as we bring in quality recruiting classes each year," said Bulldogs head coach Kevin Swaim, who was named the West Coast Conference Men's Coach of the Year in 2004. "Now that we have the program back to being a regional competitor we want take the next step and advance the program to the national NCAA Championships."

Part of the refueled success of the program is due to the hard work of the Bulldogs most recent senior class of Ryan Anderson, Eric Berge, Dan Futrell, David Hannon, Joe Manning and Jeff Rigby. That group has helped the Bulldogs finish second at the WCC Championships in back-to-back years with Anderson and Manning earning All-WCC first-team honors both seasons. Futrell was also a top contributor in 2003 earning honorable mention accolades.

"This group of seniors represent all that is good in a 4-year college experience," Swaim said of his senior class. "They all entered Gonzaga as raw, talented freshmen and developed into great athletes and great people."

Anderson and Manning have spearheaded that class to succeed with both runners consistently among the top finishers in each meet. Manning's determination was never more evident than when he competed in the 2004 WCC Championships with a stress fracture in his hip and still finished among the Top 10 runners. With Manning out of the line-up for the NCAA West Regional, Gonzaga finished 17th to end the 2004 season.

"We were hoping for something magical to happen at the NCAA Regionals this year" stated Swaim, "but when you are missing a runner with Joe's (Manning) ability it is hard to replace that spot in your line-up."

Despite missing Manning from the NCAA race Gonzaga did see the future of Bulldogs cross country emerge in the sophomore shoes of Joe Miller. Miller paced the GU finishers with a 61st place finish at the NCAA West Regional, one week after finishing third at the West Coast Conference Championships.

"Joe (Miller) is the future of Gonzaga cross country," explained Swaim. "He was able to get a taste of what he can accomplish at this year's WCC and NCAA events. Now he has his sights set on the NCAA Championships and I think he has the ability to become Gonzaga's first male NCAA invitee."

While the future is in the hands of a talented sophomore a good deal of the credit for rebuilding this program lies in the hands of the senior class.

"Our seniors have done what seniors are supposed to do, that is lead by example," Swaim finished. "This group of guys has helped to build something special here and now it is up to the next class of runners to take pride in that tradition and continue to help it grow."