Season Review: Men's Cross Country

Despite returning only four runners from last year's men's cross country team, head coach Helen Lehman-Winters felt confident that her talented incoming class would fill the void left by All-West Coast Conference performers Eric Causey and Jose Madera.

Eight new Dons joined the program this fall, highlighted by a quartet of British graduate transfers including Alex Short, Matt Leach, Ryan Driscoll and Edward Shepherd. Although the four Brits had no prior racing experience in the United States, they were all expected to step in and carry an inexperienced Green and Gold squad. With the additions of freshmen Caleb McClain, Connor Cavassa, Gunnar Vik and Cristian Monsalud, the Dons' roster consisted of eight runners who had never competed at the collegiate level in the United States. Despite the young squad, USF proved early on that it was ready to compete at a high level.

In the season opener at the USF Invitational, Driscoll burst onto the scene with a time of 24:26.7, the fastest time ever by a Don in the meet's history. Leach also claimed fifth to put two Dons in the top five and help the team to a fourth place finish in the team standings.

One week later, the Dons squared up against a very strong Boise State squad in a dual meet format. This time it was Short and Shepherd's turn to showcase their skills in the duo's first collegiate race in the U.S. Short dominated the field, bringing home first place with a time of 24:55.1. With the victory, it became clear that Short would be a force to be reckoned with in the West Region.

In their first away meet of the season, the Dons traveled to Minneapolis for the Roy Griak Invitational held on the University of Minnesota campus. The Green and Gold put together a very strong performance, taking fifth place out of 23 teams. Short impressed once again, taking fifth place to lead his USF squad. The Dons were able to place five runners in the top 50 as Leach (30th), Mohamed Aziz (37th), Shepherd (41st) and Driscoll (42nd) all had strong showings.

Following the Griak Invitational, the Dons were awarded for their top five performance by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association with a No. 7 ranking in the West Region, the highest ranking in program history.

At Pre-Nationals on Oct. 17, Short raced his fastest meet of 2015, finishing the 8K loop in 23:45.7 to finish 31st overall. Out of the 42-team field, the Dons took 18th.

After one week off from competition, the Dons traveled to Washington to compete at the West Coast Conference Championships held in Spokane. Although BYU dominated the conference meet, the Dons placed both Short (4th) and Leach (10th) in the top 10 which secured their spots on the All-WCC team.

Entering the NCAA West Regional, Short had a great opportunity to clinch a berth at the NCAA Championships with a strong enough time. Racing in extremely muddy conditions, Short placed 15th with a time of 31:26.2 in the 10K meet to help the Dons take 11th overall, scoring 273 team points in the 30-school field. Short's time not only solidified his spot on the All-West Region team, but it also gave him just enough points to earn an individual at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. In just his first year on the Hilltop, Short reached what he set out for at the beginning of the season.

Although Short suffered an injury just before the 5K mark and was unable to finish his race at the NCAA Championships, his inaugural campaign on the Hilltop was one to not be forgotten - he concluded the 2015 season with four top 20 performances, including a first place performance, as well as All-West Coast Conference and All-West Region accolades.

Next season, Short, along with nine other Dons will return with a shot to bring the program's first WCC title back to the Hilltop.

"I'm confident that with patience, more time and development on the track this spring, we will have a really solid squad next fall," Lehman-Winters said. "We have the core ingredients, so now we have to keep working hard."