When it comes to women's cross country, however, Jensen's cupboard is far from bare.
"We might not have the exceptional runners we had in Jessica and Kathleen, but we have a great deal of quality depth," Jensen said. "Our women's team is going to be very tough."
In recent years Jensen's goal was to send five runners with sub-20-minute times to the national championships. "If you can do that, you normally finish in the top 10. This year, we could have ten women running the 5,000 meters under 20 minutes."
Whitman's depth begins with three women who have run under 19 minutes. The threesome includes seniors Oni Ogsbury (Boulder CO) and Emily Anderson (Fort Collins CO) as well as Elisa Bobness, a freshman from McMinnville, Oregon.
Senior Dorothy Metcalf (Fort Collins CO), junior Melissa Thorne (Beaverton OR) and sophomore Faye Hutchison (Snohomish WA) also return with times under 20 minutes.
Adding greater depth are two freshmen with good high schools times -- Taylor Dale (Crested Butte CO) and Kathleen Rasmussen (Seattle WA).
"This is the most depth we've ever had on the women's team," Jensen said. "It's going to be exciting to see how this team develops and improves, and to see which of the freshmen really take charge."
The Whitman women will be gunning for their fifth consecutive trip to the NAIA national championships. Over the past four years, Whitman placed no lower than sixth at nationals while winning a pair of Northwest Conference championships.
Bissonnette, Whitman's crown jewel during that four-year run, captured a pair of individual conference titles and earned All-American honors in each of her four seasons. Her senior year, which began with a legitimate shot at a national title, was shortcircuited by injury.
Gibson, the other half of Whitman's potent one-two punch, twice earned All-American honors despite an ongoing battle with asthma. Gibson closed out her senior season by winning the conference title and placing fifth at nationals, the highest finish ever for a Whitman cross country runner.