Both the Men and Womens cross country teams arrived at Brandeis early to begin training for the upcoming season. After a successful season last fall, both squads are geared up to compete and extend the victories of past years.
Both of the teams will be missing parts of their rosters due to senior teammates graduating in May. The Mens team said goodbye to seniors Danny Glass, Joel Sunshine, and Peter Vigneron. The Womens team also lost some runners as seniors Megan Bisceglia, Alyssa Ross, Mary Schillinger, and Camille Stevens-Rumann all graduated. Still, new talent and team expectations bring bright prospects and new goals for the upcoming competitions.
The mens team has five of its top seven runners returning to the team this fall. This talented core is also coupled with a large crew of freshmen recruits who have their own individual talents. This class includes Paul Norton, who was the Western Massachusetts champion in the two miles and also a fast 5000 meter runner. Other first-years include Dan Anastos, who ran a 15:31 for the 5k at the Nike outdoor national meet. These runners are teamed with first-year addition Zack Schwartz , who has posted a 9:37 in the two mile run and has other notable times in cross country races as well. All of these runners are teamed up with a number of other talented athletes, who will all contribute to the teams success.
The first year athletes on the mens squad are excited about the upcoming competitions and have high prospects for their premier season.
We have more depth than we have seen in a long time, commented Norton about the teams outlook for the year. We returned five of our top seven runners.
Other first year athletes have similar sentiments about the year ahead.
Im pretty excited about the season stated Schwartz. I think we are going to make nationals.
Returning members of the team had high prospects and goals for the team as well. Senior Dan Suher explained that one of the team goals was to repeat its second place performance at the conference meet, or possibly place higher. He also went on to explain that another top goal is to get the team to nationals for the first time since 1999. The talent is there to accomplish just that.
The Womens team is also pumped up for its upcoming season and boasts a number of first-year standouts. Emily Owen '11, a new addition to the team, was a state qualifier in her home state of New York and has posted numerous impressive cross country and track finishes. Marie Lemay 11 has run an impressive 19:54 personal record in the 5K run, as well as placing high in other races. Hannah Lindholm 11 was able to score a personal best of 15:40 in the 4K and was a state qualifier for cross country in high school. These three new additions are sure to make the team a faster, stronger squad.
Katy Agule 09 is excited about the additions to the squad and sees bright prospects for the upcoming season.
We are all very excited for the season, she said about the squads sentiments for the upcoming competitions. We might be small, but we're building a strong team.
Both of the squads had outstanding performances during last years competitions. The Mens team was able to place individual runners in high places during numerous meets and ended up placing second at the UAA Cross Country Championships. The Womens team had similarly good standings, also placing high at meets and ending up fifth at the Womens UAA Outdoor Championships.
The teams have their first meet against Bentley on Friday August 31st, before moving onto bigger meets later in the season. Both of the cross country teams are excited about these competitions and are eager to see their new teammates in action.
