WINONA, Minn. — You’ll have to excuse the returning members of the Saint Mary’s University cross country teams if they seemed a bit confused when they arrived back on campus.

In fact, it would have been understandable if they asked to be introduced to the man giving them instructions for their first preseason workout.

No, the Cardinals did not get a new coach. it’s just that the old coach, John Skemp, was sporting a new look.

Imagine Tom Hanks in in the movie Cast Away — and we’re not talking the clean-shaven Hanks, either.

While his athletes were spending their summers logging hundreds of miles on foot, Skemp was doing the same with a paddle, canoeing nearly 860 miles during a 50-day trek in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Skemp of his travels, which brought him to within two degrees south of the Arctic Circle. “I’m already planning next summer’s trip.”

For now, however, canoe trips to far away places have been put on the back burner, as Skemp turns his focus to the upcoming cross country season.

A season Skemp is eager to get underway.

“As soon as I got back (into civilization), I was on email and the phone, touching base with my athletes and making sure everything was in order,” said Skemp, whose team kicks off its season on Sept. 4 with the first of two home invitationals. “I’m excited to get the season started. I’m excited to see where we are at.”

Where the Cardinals were at when the 2003 season ended was no where near the top of the MIAC ladder. Where the Cardinals will be when the 2004 season ends, is a mystery.

A mystery that Skemp won’t be able to solve by himself.

“Whenever I have meetings with the athletes, I ask them what they want to get out of (their collegiate cross country) experience,” explained Skemp. “Then I explain to them that, if they want to take that next step — if they want to reach that next level — they are going to have to put in the miles over the summer.

“You can’t just show up in late August and expect to be able to compete at this level,” Skemp continued. “Summer training is what it’s all about.”

And Skemp is hoping his Cardinals took that advice to heart over the past three months.

“If we are going to make any kind of move (at the season-ending MIAC Championships), everyone had to have done their homework — they had to train over the summer,” said Skemp, who will be looking for Karl Hatteberg (Waltham, Minn.) and Patrick Polasek (Glendale Heights, Ill.) to lead the way on the men’s side, while Jenny Folgers (McHenry, Ill.), Anna Curtis (Franklin, Tenn.), Erin Ida (Reedsburg, Wis.), Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) and Tera Bolig (Cambridge, Minn.) will be called upon to be the leaders on the women’s side. “In a sport like cross country, all you can ask is that your athletes do the best that they can — I know we’ve had some athletes work very hard over the summer, and that hard work is going to pay off.”