Post by rainman on Nov 27, 2007 7:15:54 GMT -5
All-America runner
County native Keri Bland honored at WVU
By John Veasey
Times West Virginian
In the midst of all the excitement surrounding West Virginia’s football team and East Fairmont’s surprising gridiron squad, as well as the opening of the Bob Huggins era in Mountaineer basketball, a most notable achievement of a young Marion County woman has been all but overlooked.
Keri Bland, a WVU sophomore from Fairview, helped lead West Virginia’s cross country team to a ninth place finish in the 2007 NCAA championship meet held at Terra Haute, Ind.
And in doing so, Bland and teammate Marie Louise Asselin both were named cross country All-Americans for West Virginia University. This marks the first time WVU has ever had multiple All-Americans from the same cross country team.
Bland has just done an amazing job since graduating from North Marion High School in 2006. She won two state championships after getting her running career started under coach Larry Mason at North Marion and she has done nothing but improve since then.
Bland didn’t get started running until some friends talked her into going out for cross country as a junior.
As they say, the rest is history.
Bland finished 23rd in the NCAA meet with a time of 20 minutes and 58 seconds — 19 seconds behind teammate Marie Louise Asselin.
WVU’s ninth-place finish was the highest ever for a West Virginia cross country team — strong testimony for the excellent job coach Sean Cleary has done with this team.
To show how Bland has improved this year, as a freshman she finished 19th in the mid-Atlantic regionals and 40th in the Big East championships with the 10th best time for a first-year runner. She also recorded an eighth-place finish at the USA Cross Country Championships last year while being named to the national team.
This year she finished 23rd nationally.
She says the success she has had in college “is more than I ever really expected.
“I hoped for All-American and that’s something that everyone wants to be but I never knew if I could make it. It’s awesome to be an All American. And being a sophomore, I have a chance to do it again.”
And one of the things that excites her about this is that a large photograph of her will be placed on the walls of the WVU Coliseum — placed with the school’s other All-Americans — the Sam Huffs and Jerry Wests and Steve Slatons.
Now Bland’s picture will be on that wall as well.
Bland says she will be taking part in the indoor track program during the winter months and then will participate on the outdoor track squad in the spring.
During the indoor season, Bland says she will probably take part in the distance medley relay. A DMR team consists of four girls who run 400, 800, 1200 meters and a mile.
“I’ll either run the 1200 or the mile,” she says. “And I will probably do the 3-K run in indoor track also. I didn’t really do indoor track last year. I red-shirted then.”
In the spring Bland hopes to run the 1500-meter race again.
“I haven’t really talked about my goals yet,” she says. “I’ll be racing in the same events as last year, so I hope that experience will help me.”
“We were the first women’s team to win the Big East,” Bland said, still excited over that fact.
She believes in practicing every day.
“I usually run about an hour every day,” she says. “On days when I don’t run, I feel horrible. I feel bad about myself when I don’t run.”
Bland said she usually runs seven or eight miles a day.
She is majoring in engineering and is the daughter of Bart and Susan Bland of Fairview.
County native Keri Bland honored at WVU
By John Veasey
Times West Virginian
In the midst of all the excitement surrounding West Virginia’s football team and East Fairmont’s surprising gridiron squad, as well as the opening of the Bob Huggins era in Mountaineer basketball, a most notable achievement of a young Marion County woman has been all but overlooked.
Keri Bland, a WVU sophomore from Fairview, helped lead West Virginia’s cross country team to a ninth place finish in the 2007 NCAA championship meet held at Terra Haute, Ind.
And in doing so, Bland and teammate Marie Louise Asselin both were named cross country All-Americans for West Virginia University. This marks the first time WVU has ever had multiple All-Americans from the same cross country team.
Bland has just done an amazing job since graduating from North Marion High School in 2006. She won two state championships after getting her running career started under coach Larry Mason at North Marion and she has done nothing but improve since then.
Bland didn’t get started running until some friends talked her into going out for cross country as a junior.
As they say, the rest is history.
Bland finished 23rd in the NCAA meet with a time of 20 minutes and 58 seconds — 19 seconds behind teammate Marie Louise Asselin.
WVU’s ninth-place finish was the highest ever for a West Virginia cross country team — strong testimony for the excellent job coach Sean Cleary has done with this team.
To show how Bland has improved this year, as a freshman she finished 19th in the mid-Atlantic regionals and 40th in the Big East championships with the 10th best time for a first-year runner. She also recorded an eighth-place finish at the USA Cross Country Championships last year while being named to the national team.
This year she finished 23rd nationally.
She says the success she has had in college “is more than I ever really expected.
“I hoped for All-American and that’s something that everyone wants to be but I never knew if I could make it. It’s awesome to be an All American. And being a sophomore, I have a chance to do it again.”
And one of the things that excites her about this is that a large photograph of her will be placed on the walls of the WVU Coliseum — placed with the school’s other All-Americans — the Sam Huffs and Jerry Wests and Steve Slatons.
Now Bland’s picture will be on that wall as well.
Bland says she will be taking part in the indoor track program during the winter months and then will participate on the outdoor track squad in the spring.
During the indoor season, Bland says she will probably take part in the distance medley relay. A DMR team consists of four girls who run 400, 800, 1200 meters and a mile.
“I’ll either run the 1200 or the mile,” she says. “And I will probably do the 3-K run in indoor track also. I didn’t really do indoor track last year. I red-shirted then.”
In the spring Bland hopes to run the 1500-meter race again.
“I haven’t really talked about my goals yet,” she says. “I’ll be racing in the same events as last year, so I hope that experience will help me.”
“We were the first women’s team to win the Big East,” Bland said, still excited over that fact.
She believes in practicing every day.
“I usually run about an hour every day,” she says. “On days when I don’t run, I feel horrible. I feel bad about myself when I don’t run.”
Bland said she usually runs seven or eight miles a day.
She is majoring in engineering and is the daughter of Bart and Susan Bland of Fairview.
