University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Fall Flashback – Cross Country Decade of Dominance in the 1990’s
09.16.2020 | Cross Country
The UNC Asheville women's cross country program enjoyed a decade of brilliance in the 1990's.
From 1993 until the end of the decade, the Bulldog harriers never finished lower than second place in the conference championships. Asheville won four times (1994 & 1995, 1998 & 1999) and finished second the other three years.
The Bulldogs toughest competition during that time was old conference foe Coastal Carolina. Asheville and Coastal Carolina developed an intense rivalry when both teams were head and shoulders above everyone else in the league.
Asheville's cross country program was a young one that started up in 1986 when the Bulldogs went Division I. The Bulldogs were competitive but never really in the mix for a championship.
Willy Wood became the program's head coach in the summer of 1992 and began to change Asheville's fortunes. Wood was a relentless recruiter and the results quickly showed. In 1992, the Bulldogs took sixth but had two runners place in the top 10, earning All-Conference honors. Michelle Selby captured fourth place, the highest finish ever for a Bulldog runner, while Wendy Trehern came in 10th place.
In 1993, Asheville was much improved as Wood's first recruiting class came to the Land of the Sky and immediately made an impact. The Bulldogs stunned the Big South with a second-place finish at the championship meet. Asheville finished well behind defending champion Coastal Carolina but the days of the Chanticleers waltzing to easy championships were coming to an end. Two of Wood's first recruits, Becky Vonderhaar and Marlene Gardner, would finish in the top 10 to earn all-conference honors. It would be the first of four all-conference honors for Vonderhaar. The Cincinnati native is one of just 12 runners in league history to be all-conference four times. She was voted into the UNC Asheville Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wood left UNC Asheville the following spring to take over the Columbia University track and field program in New York City. Athletic officials quickly hired Stan Rosenthal to take over the track and field programs.
Wood had once worked for Rosenthal at the University of Georgia. Rosenthal was just as relentless in recruiting and was ready to build on the success of 1993.
And in 1994, the Bulldogs were ready to win a championship and not just compete for one. Asheville headed to Towson, Md. where Towson State would host the championship that year. The Bulldogs knew their toughest competition would be Coastal Carolina.
But on a cold November day, the Bulldogs' depth would come through in a big way. Four Asheville harriers would earn all-conference honors and finish in the top eight. The Bulldogs were led by freshman Siobhan Keenan. The Canadian native would come in third place over the Towson course, the highest finish ever for a Bulldog runner. Marlene Silva would take fifth place. Vanderhaar would earn all-conference honors for the second straight year with a seventh-place finish. Andrea Jernigan took eighth place for the Bulldogs.
When it was over, the Bulldogs had their championship. They finished with 36 points, two better than Coastal Carolina's 38. It made for a happy plane ride home from Baltimore.
In 1995, the championship meet shifted to Winthrop University. Again, Asheville and Coastal Carolina were the favorites and both teams proved it that morning.
The two teams were so good and so evenly matched that the 1995 championship ended in a tie for first and only time in league history. Each team finished with exactly 38 points. Keenan once again finished in second place. Emily Olinger took fourth, while Vonderhaar was an all-conference performer for the third straight year.
Coastal Carolina would hold off the Bulldogs in 1996 and 1997. But Rosenthal's recruiting would bring an impressive class in the mid-90's that would help lead Asheville to another pair of titles.
The 1998 Bulldog team may be the best in school history. It dominated the Big South from start to finish. The 1998 meet would be held at Radford and Asheville was ready to end the Chanticleer run.
The Bulldogs controlled the race from beginning to end. Asheville took first with 41 points, while Coastal Carolina was a distant second at 60 points.
Sophomore Mandy Becker was Asheville's newest rising star. She earned all-conference honors as a freshman and came in second place in the 1998 championship. Katie Harmuth came in fifth place, while Julie Wilhelm took seventh.
Asheville's next title in 1999 was a dramatic one. The Bulldogs would edge Coastal Carolina by one point to claim their fourth title in six years. Newcomer Zola Davis led the Bulldog effort with another second-place finish for an Asheville runner. Becker came in seventh place as the Bulldogs would finish with 47 points to 48 for the Chanticleers.
It was a decade of dominance and brilliance for the Asheville harriers. Rosenthal would be named Big South Coach of the Year four times and earned All-Decade honors a few years ago. Vonderhaar and Becker also earned All-Decade recognition. Twenty-one different Asheville runners during the 1990's made the All-Conference team.
It was a decade of brilliance.
