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SPORTS

The Norwich Guidon
October 16, 2003

Men's, women's cross-country on roll towards season end

By Dave Armeson
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

"We have another three or four races before GNAC Championships, and I feel by the time we get to GNAC we should have our top ten guys under 30 minuets or close to that, which is good," said one team captain.

Both the men's and women's cross-country teams have steadily improved since the beginning of the season and are aiming to win conference championships.

The first four races of the season are completed, and the men's cross-country team has racked up two second place finishes, while the women have won a first and a second.

The Cadets' first race took place at St. Michael's College and proved to be a tough matchup.

"St. Mikes was a good course, but they are super fast," said Felicia Hershey, 19, a physical education major from Beckley, WV. "I think we got fourth place out of eight there, but we did pretty good, because the top girl for our school came in sixteenth."

St. Michael's College is a Division II team, making them one of the toughest teams the Cadets face this year.

"It was a really tough, hilly course; we still looked pretty good," said Chris Bigott, 22, a senior sports medicine major from Rockville, Md. "We took fourth overall out of nine teams."

Other runners also excelled through the challenging course.

"The first race, I usually go out hard, and I led the entire race for Norwich," said Johnathan Capen, 24, a senior business major from Peru, N.Y. "I had a freshman, Bruce Mcdonald, behind me, and I ended up beating him by about 20 seconds, I believe. I was the first Norwich finisher."

The second race of the season was the Middlebury Invitational, which again was made up of mostly Division II teams.

The Cadet men's team took fourth, and the NU women came away with a fifth place finish.

"The second week of the season was the Middlebury invitational, and it pretty much followed suit the same way," Capen said. "I was the top Norwich finisher, followed closely by Bruce Mcdonald, again, and some other outstanding freshmen right behind us."

Capen said the women's team had a strong showing, with all 16 women "running and placing for the team."

"This course was tough, but served as great preparation for the upcoming meets," Capen said.

The next two races for the Cadets showed the ability of both Cadet squads. Norwich dominated the Hornet Invite and Johnson State meets. The men came away with two second-place finishes, and the women had first and second honors.

Capen said the course at the Hornet was very wet with "a lot of mud and bridges you had to cross."

The women's team had several top-10 finishers to help boost the team score.

"We had all but two in the top 10," said Kathleen Dues, 22, a senior environmental science major from Needham, Mass. "I was actually number 10."

Johnson State also saw a Cadet team that came out to win. Both the male and female teams took second place, with a few freshmen really stepping up.

"Bruce Mcdonald was our top finisher at the Hornet and again at Johnson State, with five St. Mikes guys ahead of him," Capen said, adding that young runners on the team have really stepped up to help the Cadets and are showing much improvement.

"Bruce has definitely shown improvement; he has run the fastest time of anyone all year," Capen said. "Adam Lethers, who really stepped it up last week at the Johnson race, [and McDonald] both ran under 31 minutes this year."

The state meet at Lyndon State College is the chance to see who the best team in Vermont really is. The Cadets feel they are ready to show they are the best.

"It should be a good race for us, especially since we have seen the course once, already, this year." Capen said. "I expect the freshmen to step up and run a lot faster than they did two weeks ago."

Both the men's and women's teams have proved to be better than when the season began, and they hope to continue this progress through the end of the season.

"We should be knowing ourselves; knowing who we run with the best; who we have to beat; and finally how to kick towards the end," Dues said. "I think people have just become better runners by now."

Even though both the men and women have had trouble with injuries, they say the season outlook is good, and they expect to be successful come conference meet time.

"I think right now, at this point in the season we look really good and I think we are going to be in contention for a GNAC championship here in a month" Capen said.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.