PVCC Puma Press: November 2004

Paradise Valley Community College’s men and women’s cross-country teams enter the 2004 Fall season focused, looking to improve the already rich tradition of success for which the program has been known.

The men’s team retained four runners from last year’s squad which finished second at last year’s Nationals, including All-Americans Jorge Machado and Daniel Kanyaruhuru. The Pumas will be one of the favorites to advance to Nationals from the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

The team will get ready for the post-season with tough meets against Central Arizona and Rend Lake of Edwardsville, Ill.

Head coach Dave Barney of PVCC says, “We can be really successful this season if just a couple of guys can step it up a notch and rise to the occasion.” The goals are lofty but realistic for the Pumas to reach and win Nationals. “If they can stay healthy and believe in how good they are, they will have a good shot of reaching Nationals and achieving their goals,” says Barney.

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‘We can be really successful this season if just a couple of guys can step it up a notch and rise to the occasion.’
—Coach Barney
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The defending National Champion women’s team returns three runners from last year, one being All-American sophomore Sereena Harmon. The Lady Pumas will look to again claim national dominance as they run for the National Title. Coach Barney believes that tough meets during the regular season against Yavapai, Central Arizona and Butler (Kans.) will help prepare the Pumas in attaining the goal.

In addition to those meets, both the men and women’s teams will compete in “Border Wars” in Edwardsville, Illinois, a meet that brings together over 20 schools, from both 2-year and 4-year institutions. Barney has a simple outlook regarding Nationals: “If we don’t try and win it, we wont,” he says.

Both teams began preparing for Nationals on June 1. The teams’ have dedicated themselves to the cause by training five-to-six days a week. During training, the lady Pumas run between 50-70 miles a week, while the men run 70-100 miles per week. In addition to the focused training, both are very team-oriented and believe in the idea of “not leaving any ‘man’ behind.” They follow this year’s motto “The dream, the struggle, the victory,” as both teams look to win Nationals in November in El Paso.

Barney explains the motto by saying, “at first you have a dream to succeed, followed by a struggle to attain the dream, then followed by the victory of achieving your goal.”

While athletically the cross-country teams have performed impressively, they’ve also impressed in the classroom. For the past two years the men’s team has finished as the second best academic team in the nation. This year they hope to become No.1. The men’s team averaged a 3.31 GPA, while the ladies were right behind with a 3.29 GPA, well exceeding the 1.75 GPA minimum requirement for athletic eligibility.

Barney points out that “at the end of the year when you look at the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association’s Team All-American list for both athletics and academics, PVCC is the only school that consistently is at the top of both lists.”