Men's Cross Country | 8/22/2015 6:29:00 PM

2015 Cross Country Schedule
2015 Men's Cross Country Roster
2015 Women's Cross Country Roster

Fifth-year head cross country coach Steve Imig isn't thinking about the winter just yet, but he's hoping the snowball effect will continue to take form heading into the 2015 season for the Viking harriers.

"We definitely want to continue the forward progress we've made," Imig said. "From five years ago to now, the goal has always been to try and take a big step forward and I really felt like last season we made the biggest step."

That couldn't be more evident than with the performance of two individuals in particular – Miranda Gomez, who earned All-CCIW honors by finishing 16th at last year's conference championships – and Saul Lopez (Jr.), who took home a top-40 finish.

"Last year's team got a taste of being competitive when and where it matters," Imig said. "It's not unrealistic to continue to make strides and hopefully we can continue that this fall."

Along with Lopez, three of the top five runners return on the men's side. Ricky Barajas, who has shown consistent progression throughout his three seasons, returns for his senior year, while Thomas Simac returns for his junior season.

"Having our nucleus intact from last year is huge in moving forward for what we want to establish," Imig said. "From a leadership standpoint, it will definitely help us continue to improve."

Those three, including a host of newcomers – five freshmen – and a slew of other returners, should definitely provide the added boost North Park hopes to possess.

"There are definitely four or five guys on the men's side that'll be able to help us right off the bat, while the women's team will carry a few as well," Imig said. "The goal however is always development. We want to develop distance runners so they can be competitive and really contribute to our success."

As the Vikings' top-female harrier, Gomez made history at the conference championships last season by becoming the first runner to earn All-Conference honors in nearly 10 years. Her tenacity, combined with the agility of runners Kathleen McCarrick and Zoe Larson, both juniors, as well as the addition of a slew of newcomers, NP has the opportunity to more than improve on last season's top-30 performance in the NCAA Regional.

"We definitely have high expectations for Mia this season," Imig said. "After a top-20 finish last season (at conference), we're hoping she can crack the top-10 or even the top-five. She's did a lot of good work last season. Add Kathleen and Zoe and those three are a formidable trio that will do good things."

North Park competes at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational Sept. 25 in Rock Island, which coincidentally is the same course the Division III Regional will be held. A similar circumstance is true for the Lucian Rosa Invite Oct. 10, where the conference championships where be held later in the year.

"There's definitely an advantage competing on that course prior to regionals, but at the same time you have to go out and execute," Imig said. "UW-Parkside (Oct. 10) however is true cross country. Sometimes you can be on a golf course that has gentle hills and such but with UW-Parkside, it's tough uphill and rough. But we wanted to get the team on that course early because it'll definitely ready us for the conference meet."

North Park opens the season Sept. 4 at the Elmhurst Early bird Invitational, beginning at 5:45 p.m.

"Our expectations have been raised and we're only going to continue in that direction," Imig said. "We hope that it can continue to become an internal picture of what we want to accomplish for where we want to be."