When Kansas University senior runners Paul Hefferon and Colby Wissel show up at cross country meets this fall, they’ll have every right to feel like rock stars.

Well, as much of a rock star as a distance runner can feel like.

Rather than perks, they’ll command respect. The duo will represent one of four schools in the country that boasts multiple 2006 All-Americans on its squad.

In that department, KU stands aside traditional powers Colorado, Oregon and Wisconsin.

Some runners might puff their chests at such an honor. Hefferon thinks it means he and his senior runningmate merely have to work harder.

“We weren’t two of the most highly acclaimed runners out of high school, and we’ve outperformed a lot of guys who were,” Hefferon said at KU Olympic sports media day. “And now that we’re seniors, and we’ve been there and we’ve accomplished things, we don’t have the advantage of going into meets and not having people notice that we’re there.”

Wissel, a Kearney, Neb., native, is the reigning Big 12 individual champ. His heroic efforts in the stretch run of last October’s conference meet at Rim Rock Farm helped secure a team title, too. He placed 26th at the NCAA championships while Hefferon, a product of Blue Valley West, was 42nd.

If the duo hopes for its swan song to be better than last year’s 20th-place team finish at nationals, the seniors simply have to put more on their plates as leaders.

Kansas University runner Paul Hefferon was named an All-American in 2006. His senior season will begin Sept. 1 at the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm.

“On the men’s side, we’re seasoned, we have great veterans who know what to do in order to get there. It’s just a matter of executing it,” KU coach Stanley Redwine said. “I think those guys are a little more seasoned. They know not to go out and kill themselves this early in the season and know when to peak.”

Now that has to trickle down to the youngsters below them. KU graduated four seniors from last year’s men’s squad, including one of the school’s most decorated runners in recent memory, Benson Chesang. Five of the team’s 14 members are freshmen, so they might not enjoy the same learning curve Wissel and Hefferon were given.

Senior Patrick McGowan is one runner Hefferon thinks could benefit from his strong showing at nationals last November. He’s the only KU runner behind Wissel and Hefferon who ran at the meet in Terre Haute, Ind. Also holding lofty expectations is sophomore Brett Imgrund, a former standout at Shawnee Mission Northwest who made the trip to nationals but did not compete.

While the men had little to complain about with the way their season finished last fall, the women’s squad found plenty with its 11th-place finish at the Big 12 meet. Instead of moping, the poor result has been used as fuel.

“They were totally embarrassed after that meet,” Redwine said. “And so was I.”

Taking on the role of keeping the holdovers together is Ottawa product Lisa Morrisey, who was KU’s top finisher in that race, crossing the line in 45th.

Behind Morrisey, 13 of the 18 runners on the women’s side are either freshmen or sophomores. Despite the youth, plenty of the sophomores took the lumps that have molded them into “more of a unit,” Redwine said.

“We had a really young team last year – we had nine freshmen, and now we have nine sophomores,” Redwine said. “We had a lot of young people out there, and we can’t make excuses.”