This year̢۪s return of the men̢۪s cross country team at Fresno State has given the track team new hope.

After cross country was cut in 2003, the track team lost its distance runners, who had participated in both cross country and track events.

The lack of distance runners was hard for the track team to overcome, since it had no athletes to compete in distance events. The team was then unable to place at meets, although it still participated.

Track star Ryan Moore, a senior, recalled the frustration experienced by the team.

“We weren’t able to score a lot of points in track because of that,” Moore said.

Distance coach Joe Gonzales agreed that it was a difficult time. “We are the type of team that fights for every point, but we can’t fight when we don’t have anyone there to compete,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales was also frustrated at not being able to recruit even average distance runners to Fresno State for track, because there was no cross country team.

“When they dropped it, it was hard to recruit,” Gonzales said. “You can’t recruit when people won’t even talk to you.”

Cross country was brought back in July, after a controversial decision that eliminated wrestling.

Gonzales was here when cross country was cut and is now instrumental in recruiting runners to rebuild the team.

“This year I have a lot of distance runners interested in our program,” Gonzales said. “Next year will be even better, and we will do much better in the WAC than we did this year. It was a blessing for us, but it was bad for wrestling.”

When the decision was made to allow cross country to return, the track team was excited.

“Having distance runners back has helped us a lot,” Kellen Kennedy, a jumper and sprinter on the track team, said.

“It allows us to have more athletes and win more meets.”

Although recruiting started a little thin this year due to the late summer return of the program, Gonzales found a rising star in freshman Frank Sanders.

Sanders, a native of Turlock, is one of five distance runners on the new team. Sanders received a scholarship for his talents in the 800 meter event. Yet, he got even more than he expected when cross country returned.

“I didn’t even know that I was going to do long distance, but when wrestling was dropped and cross country returned, they needed distance runners,” Sanders said.

The fact that Sanders is a talented freshman bodes well for the future. “It has been good to see a mid-distance guy doing really well, especially as a freshman,” Moore said.

Sanders expects great things out of his remaining three years at Fresno State.

“The team is really looking to step it up a notch,” he said. “It’s a slow process since we don’t really have a name for ourselves yet, but we should have a really strong team next year.”

This weekend Fresno State will be hosting 26 schools for the track and field Cal-Nevada Championships, which Moore described as, “A good opportunity to show other schools what we have.” Fresno State also hosts the WAC Championships in May.

The return of the cross country team was a vote of confidence by the administration, Moore said. “It now feels like the administration is looking out for our team,” he said. “It feels like they care. We were on the bubble before, but now they are embracing us.”

For his part, Kennedy is looking forward to the chance to showcase the new team. “People are starting to respect that ’Dog.”