KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Kevin Cataldo has a problem.

As the head coach of Western Michigan University's women's cross country team prepares for the first meet of the season on Friday, it's a very good problem, though.

''Last year, it was easy to say who was among the top five runners on the team,'' said Cataldo, who is entering his second year heading up the team. ''This year, I can't say that, which is a good problem to have as a coach.

''We still have some people coming back from some setbacks. We also have a young group coming in which is very talented, so we have a good mixture of veterans and young runners.''

The Broncos (fifth in the Mid-American Conference meet last season) have their first of four meets at Valparaiso University on Friday. They will continue to compete on Sept. 15 at Bowling Green's Mel Brodt Collegiate Open, on Sept. 29 at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational and on Oct. 13 at Bradley's Pink Classic. 

That's in preparation for the MAC Championships at Bowling Green on Oct. 28 and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 10 at the University of Wisconsin.

''We call the first meet of the season the Rust Buster,'' grad student Kayla Schiera said with a smile. ''We can kick off the rust from the summer and transition from last spring's track season to cross country season.''

Runners like Schiera and fellow grad student Annalise James have maybe some more rust to kick off than some of their teammates as they are returning from injuries. They are two of the top six runners returning from last season which helped the Broncos finish fifth. Also back are grad student Katelyn Spooner (34th in the MAC meet), senior Brooke Soper (63rd), sophomore Lauren Sancrant (77th) and senior Maggie Raab (82nd).

All told, WMU has a 16-runner roster with six of them being either seniors or graduate students who have been through seasons of looking forward to regular season meets, but wanting to peak for the MAC and NCAA regional meets.
It's called the process.

''The first meet, we're holding a lot of people out to get in some training and to see what we are all about,'' Cataldo said. ''It gives me some time to learn about the athletes, so some may race and some may work out.

''A lot of it is trusting the process. It's being patient, because with the young runners, they want to go-go-go, to prove they belong here. If they are willing to listen and learn, they could avoid mistakes, like over training and running too hard.

''If I set a time for them to run in practice and they are beating it, the veterans will say wait a minute, it could lead to something that's not so good. The advice means one thing coming from a coach and it means something different coming from a peer.''

The young runners – like freshmen Chloe Nixon, Madison Clor, Lillian Zelasko, Rebekah Asselin and Larissa McGrath – have to get used to the college running scene, according to the coach.

''It's tough to hold them back at the start of the season because they aren't used to running with each other,'' Cataldo said. ''They've raced against each other in high school, and now they are on the same team and that means slowing each other down to keep themselves trained.

''I would rather have the team be 90 percent trained than 100 percent overtrained. That way we will know we can compete.''

Schiera recalls what it's like to compete at a high level, such as the MAC meet last season when she finished seventh. She and teammate Makayla Perez (fifth in the MAC), who graduated, were All-MAC last year, the first time WMU has had two All-MAC runners in school history.

''Honestly, at last year's MAC meet, it was a lot of fun having both of us in the top 10,'' Schiera said. ''Just having a teammate up there the entire time was awesome, then turning around and looking for teammates crossing the finish line hyped us up.

''With this team, we're going to surprise people.''

Added James: ''We went in with high goals, to finish in the top five. That was my best experience racing as a team. Last year was the first time I felt confident in my training and just working on endurance in general. I'm feeling really good about this team. The freshmen are excited and not scared to jump to the front and that's what we need.''

The process is something Schiera and James stressed to the freshmen at a preseason camp up north.

''We stressed to them that a lot of teams don't let their freshmen compete and redshirt them,'' James said. ''They are fortunate to run in the first meet.''

Cataldo looks at Toledo as the favorite in the MAC this season as it returns everyone from last year's conference title team. Ohio University was second and also returns everyone with Bowling Green not far behind.

''My goal is to be in the top third in the conference this year,'' he said. ''Our depth this year will make us more dangerous.''

James couldn't agree more.

''We set our goal in camp to be in the top three, which is going to be very hard,'' she said.

Believing in the process may just get the Broncos to that lofty point this season.


Roster
Seniors/graduate students – Annalise James, Maggie Raab, Danielle Rinn, Kayla Schiera, Brooke Soper, Katelyn Spooner.
Juniors – Ann Marie Jordan, Delaney Knoll, LaJeanee Porter.
Sophomores – Laurene Sancrant, Madison Zarembski.
Freshmen – Rebekah Asselin, Madison Clor, Larissa McGrath, Cloe Nixon, Lillian Zelasko.