Senior Alex Rolfe (Missoula MO), the men's Northwest Conference champion a year ago, is still hobbled by an Achilles tendon problem that developed at the tail end of last season. "At this point we're just hoping that Alex can be back in top health by next spring's track season," Whitman coach Keith Jensen said.
Rolfe's Achilles tendon began failing after he won last year's conference title in a time of 25 minutes, 17 seconds. Running two weeks later in the NAIA national championships, he struggled to finish in 128th place. The previous year Rolfe placed 36th at nationals.
To add insult to injury, health concerns also hang over two of Whitman's next best male runners.
Senior Josh Carney (Pocatello ID), who missed his junior season while studying in Australia, returns after placing fourth in the conference championships as a sophomore. He also has a lingering Achilles tendon problem, however, that might well keep him from running at full strength.
Another standout from the past, junior Ezra Ellis (Spokane WA), also is attempting a comeback this fall. Ellis, who placed second in the state Class AAA state as a high school senior, suffered a severe ankle injury during his freshman season at Stanford University. He transferred to Whitman during the spring of his freshmen year and flirted with the idea of running last fall.
"But he's also a 4.0 student who takes his academics very seriously," Jensen said. "Right now we just want Ezra to have fun running again. He was always driven in high school to be the best. He always maximized his potential by working extremely hard."
Jensen singles out four runners who return from last year's squad with a shot at cracking this fall's top five. Junior David Toomey (Santa Rosa CA) leads this group, which also includes improving sophomores Jesse Philo (Walla Walla WA) and Douglas Pierson (Portland OR) as well as experienced senior Derek Hayner (Federal Way WA).
Others showing signs of promise, Jensen noted, are freshmen Sean Menton and Cory Root and senior Brett Kmiec.