2009 season performance list

University of Montana junior Katrina Drennen will compete Monday at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s six-kilometer national championship race will start at 10:58 a.m. (MT).

Thirty-one teams and 38 additional individuals will be competing in the women’s field. Drennen qualified as one of the Mountain Region’s four at-large individuals at last Saturday’s regional race in Albuquerque, N.M.

The men’s 10-kilometer national championship race starts at 10:08 a.m. (MT).

Both races will be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course and broadcast live on the Versus Network and online at NCAA.com.

Monday’s race will be Drennen’s third time competing on the Terre Haute course. She ran a 21:24 at NCAA Pre-Nationals in 2007 and a 21:43 at last month’s NCAA Pre-Nationals.

“It’s a fantastic facility that’s made just for cross country,” Drennen said. “The atmosphere and enthusiasm are just overwhelming.

“The course itself has some hills, and I’ve always been a good hill runner and a tough runner, so I think that favors me over a flatter course.”

Monday’s national championship race is another step in the progression for the ever-improving Drennen. She won the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country championship as a high school senior and has three top-six finishes at Big Sky Conference championship meets, including a third-place finish last month in Greeley, Colo.

Drennen competed in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Midwest Region outdoor track and field meet last May, but Monday will be her first time competing at a collegiate national championship event.

“I really believe in the power of goal-setting and visualization,” Drennen said. “I’ve had goals since the beginning of the year, and I’ve been striving toward them and reaching them, whether they are small goals or big goals.

“I feel like I’m right where I need to be. I totally believe that I can compete at the national level.

“Of course you never get there by just yourself. I have a great support system in my team, my family and my coach.”

Drennen placed 63rd in the White race at NCAA Pre-Nationals last month, one of two women’s races at a meet that annually draws the top teams and individuals in the country. The White race had a field of 247. Monday’s race will be of similar size.

“The thing that’s really worked well for me at conference and regionals is getting engaged in that front pack right from the get-go,” Drennen said. “I don’t ever really focus on my splits during the race. I want to get out with the top half of the pack. Not in over my head, but just at a comfortable level where I feel relaxed and confident. That will give me an opportunity.”

After a slow start to the 2008 cross country season because of injuries, Drennen has been healthy throughout the 2009 season, and her consistent results prove it.

She has been Montana’s top runner at all five of the team’s races. She also had an overall victory at the Montana Invitational, a runner-up finish at the Montana State Invitational, her third-place finish at conference and last weekend’s 17th-place finish at regionals.

“I think our training definitely stepped up this year to another level,” Drennen said. “Instead of doing three-mile tempo runs, we’re doing four or four and a half now. That’s played a big role in jumping up to the 6k distance. That extra thousand may not seem like much, but with the extra training behind us that’s really helped me stay strong in the middle of our races and remain strong mentally throughout the entire race.

“Plus (coach) Courtney (Babcock) has trained me a bit differently than the other girls on the team. She pointed most of the team toward conference and regionals, but she tried to delay my peak. I was sharp for regionals, but we’re hoping that peak carries over and I’m feeling great Monday.”

Drennen will be Montana’s first athlete competing at the cross country national championships since Allie Brosh finished 99th in 2006.

“I don’t have any really specific goals, like finishing in the top 100,” Drennen concluded. “I would just like to finish the season out racing near the level of competition I’ve been racing with all season. As long as I feel like I ran a strong race at my first national appearance, I’ll be happy with it.”