HIGH POINT, N.C. — To win the conference at the rate the High Point University Women's Cross Country team does, should not go unnoticed. The women have won the Big South Conference 10 of the past 11 seasons.
Head Coach Remy Tamer enters his 10th season at the helm for the Panthers and looks to repeat what the team does best: succeed.
"You could say one of the ways in which the women have been successful for so long is that we make sure we honor each year is different, so that we can be the best we can be this year," Tamer said.
The long-time coach pushes the women "to go beyond the X's and O's." Tamer focuses on not just training the physical body to perform at the highest level, but also the student-athletes' mind. Each player is held to a standard that is not lowered for anyone.
Coach Tamer sees many goals for the team this season: win a Big South Championship, have an individual winner in the Big South, qualify one to two athletes for the national championship, and finish in the top-eight at the NCAA Souteast Regional.
The Panthers return many talented runners who received Big South honors to finish out last season. Coach Tamer stated that each runner has a "unique individual flair."
After becoming the Big South Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year, senior Charli Montalvo leads the charge. Montalvo has had six top 10 finishes and placed third at the conference's championships where she saw her best 5k time at 17:05.8.
Junior Brianna Malone will look to continue the success she had in her first two seasons, when she was the back-to-back Big South Conference champion and competed at the NCAA Southeast Regionals. Malone's best 5k time came when she placed first at the conference championships (16:45.2).
Graduate student Alyssa Hendrix is now in her second full season with the Panthers after transferring from North Carolina State. She was awarded the Big South Conference Newcomer of the Year award after a top-5 conference championship finish and will be vital piece to the team's success.
The 2024 Freshman of the Year, Danielle Jensen, will look to continue to develop after narrowly missing the top five at the conference championships.
"She is very disciplined and extremely hard-working. She wants to be the best that there is, so she's going to be willing to do what it takes to get there," Tamer said.
Shauna Skow comes to mind for Coach Tamer as a runner that does not get as much attention as she deserves.
"I think she stands to make some of the loudest noise where no one was looking," he said.
Although Charlotte Heaton is a freshman and has not run yet, Coach Tamer believes she will be a major asset to the program.
The way that High Point trains sets the Panthers a part from other programs around the country.
"Our emphasis on non-running training," Tamer said, "but we spend up to 50 percent of our time at training not running, lifting weight and doing strength exercises and being well-rounded athletes and learning how to produce power and speed, which is not what a lot of distance runners do. So instead of just trying to run as long as you can, as hard as you can, and hope things work out, we try to create a foundation of athleticism that supports the running and allows us to run faster."
The Panthers want the best team atmosphere and the best group possible. This will ensure that each individual runner gets more out of their time with the program.
Watch out for the Panthers this season as they look to claim yet another Big South Conference Championship. High Point opens up the season at Elon University on Friday, August 29 at 8:15 p.m.
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