Cross country head coach Al Seither had plenty to worry about after former stars Matt Cagigal and Richard Bouckaert graduated last semester. Responsible for two Gulf Coast Atlantic Conference individual championships, they were the only remaining male runners with experience at the national meet.

But after placing first and second among Loyola runners in last Friday’s meet, history freshman Sean Meleen and biology freshman Daniel Pattillo are helping Seither rest easier.

“Sean is a seasoned cross country runner,” said Seither. “And Daniel is the greenhorn. He’s going to progress a great deal because running is new to him.”

Meleen, Pattillo and Zach Custer, English junior and Maroon sports columnist, are the only runners on the team who are dedicated to cross country at the competitive level. Other runners Avery Mitchell, psychology freshman, and Tyler Kaufman, marketing sophomore and Maroon photo editor, are using the season primarily to keep in shape for track.

“The other guys are basically track-type guys that are on the team to help us fill out the numbers,” Seither said. “But the guys that joined the team, they’re working hard, and I’d like to see them get to the point where they’re all up there pushing Sean.”

Meleen, who comes from Thibodaux, said he chose Loyola because the school gave him a good chance to run for the team. He’s considering becoming a teacher and the school’s history program intrigued him.

Regarding the change in environment, Meleen said, “It never posed a challenge. It’s just a part of life, of routine.”

Pattillo, on the other hand, is dealing not only with a new city, but also a new country. He was born and raised in Guatemala, having only spent second grade in Milwaukee learning English.

Another new experience for Pattillo is competing at organized meets, something he didn’t have back home.

“We had a field in my school, so I would run laps around in it. Sometimes I’d do 10 laps, sometimes 11. Each week I’d increase it a lap,” Pattillo said. “We didn’t have too many races. I’d have to do it on my own.” While both Meleen and Pattillo are talented runners, they are going to have to deal with inexperience, Seither said.

“This is the first time the guys are running (at this level of competition), so you can’t have too many hopes when you have inexperienced runners. I hope that they run times that I like, but I don’t have grand illusions that they are going to run (8 kilometers) in 27 minutes, but you’ve just got to hope they do their best.”

The Loyola team is running its third meet of the season, the Loyola/Xavier invitational, Sept. 15 at 9 a.m. at the Audubon/Riverside course at the Fly. Because Loyola is co-hosting the event, it’s the closest meet to the campus this year.

Chad Bower can be reached at [email protected].