KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- When the members of Western Michigan University's women's cross country team toe the starting line on Friday for the first meet of the season, they do it knowing everyone in the Mid-American Conference feels the Broncos could be special this season.

Which isn't bad considering WMU finished sixth in the league meet last season.
This season, in two preseason coaches polls, the Broncos are ranked third in the MAC, and even better, a program-record ninth in the region.

''We need to take that as a kind of pat on the back, but we need to keep the focus on ourselves and go to work,'' WMU head coach Kevin Cataldo said. ''They are excited to be ranked that high.

''That's where we belong and they are really starting to wrap their heads around it, and for me as a coach, it doesn't get any better than that when they realize, we are that good.''

Looking at who is returning, it's understandable what the rest of the MAC coaches see in the Broncos. In last year's league meet, senior Lily Overton was 19^th, junior Lara Machado Pereira 29^th, sophomore Kaelin Hughes 32nd and the fifth fastest freshmen in the MAC, junior Ava Kurczewski 46^th and senior Larissa McGrath 61^st. Rounding out the team's top seven were senior Rebekah Asselin and grad student Madison Zarembski.

All of those runners return, and there was a big name missing from last year who is back this year in junior Lillian Zelasko, who couldn't run cross country last fall because of an injury. She came back to finish fourth in both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races at the MAC Outdoor Championships in the spring.

''I'm really excited to see us ranked third,'' Zelasko said. ''I was sad to miss out on last year's cross country season, but I'm super excited for the cross country season and to what we can do as a team.

''Our vision has been to be one of the top schools in the MAC.''

While looking back sometimes doesn't help the current season, Kurczewski looks at it as motivation.

''We knew we were capable of more than sixth last year, and that has helped us build a good team relationship this season," she said. ''It's made us even more motivated to do better.''

The motivation also comes from the fact that in this past spring, she won the 3,000-meter MAC steeplechase race.

''The track success definitely got the ball rolling,'' she said. ''Being a MAC champ shows me I'm more than what I thought I was capable of.''

It's also that feeling a runner has when the team finishes sixth, knowing they could have done better.

''I was really disappointed when we were sixth, and knowing how that feels, I never want to feel like that again,'' Overton said. ''What we have right now, I'm excited.

''I truly believe we can do better than third. We've all had a really good summer, I've seen everyone come back fitter and strong and I think we have a special group. I can't stop smiling.''

Rounding out the team is senior Madison Clor, juniors Shannon Gillahan and Emma Steele and sophomores Lily Baibak and Emma Henkel.

''We have a bunch of people who are interchangeable,'' Cataldo said. ''It's far and away the deepest group of runners I've ever had.

''In the past, we've had good front runners, but not this kind of depth. I'm really excited to see what we can average in our first through fifth runners, and even our first through our seventh runners.''

He will get that chance on Friday in the Jeff Drenth Memorial run at Central Michigan University. WMU is hosting the MAC Championships on Oct. 30.

''I'm excited for this group and I think we can do something special, especially on our home course,'' Overton said.