The men’s and women’s cross-country teams started their 2015 campaigns on the right note this weekend, with runners placing on the five-kilometer courses at the Nassaney Invitational at Bryant University and the Fordham Fiasco in New York.
Two top-five finishes and five runners in the top 22 helped the men’s team to a respectable runner-up placement at the 11-team Invitational. After Director of Cross Country Tim Springfield predicted a breakout year for the class of 2018 runners, the sophomores did not disappoint in their first action of the fall. Three of Bruno’s top four runners came from the talented second-year class.
“The sophomore class is really deep. It’s one of the most talented classes in the entire league,” said co-captain Will Sheeran ’16. “We are going to count on them, so it was nice to see them get into some action.”
While the sophomores impressed, it was Sheeran who led the charge. The senior kicked off his final campaign in style with a third-place finish in 14 minutes and 51 seconds.
“The first race of the year is always kind of a rust-buster, but I think I executed fairly well,” Sheeran said.
Matt Mahoney ’18 closed the race on Sheeran’s heels with a 14:55, fifth-place finish. Classmates Ryan Anderson ’18 and Ben Sutherland ’18 turned in strong opening runs to finish 12th and 21st, respectively. Co-captain Ned Willig ’16 rounded out the Bruno effort in 22nd.
Springfield’s only critique of his team’s early-season performance was the final mile. But he noted that his instruction to start aggressively may have contributed to some “fading” late in the race.
Given the team’s inexperience, especially in the sophomore class, Sheeran said the race was important just to give runners varsity exposure.
“Inexperience is one of the biggest hurdles,” he said. “It’s nice to have an opener like this to get our bearings and get races under our belt.”
The women’s team split its runners between the Invitational and the Fordham Fiasco and saw encouraging performances from each course. The bulk of the squad’s top runners went to Fordham, where the team demolished the field. Bears filled the top nine places to take the tournament’s Division I crown. The small contingent at the Nassaney Invite still managed to take sixth overall as a team.
Lucy Van Kleunen ’17 and Natalie Schudrowitz ’18 picked up right where they left off last season. Van Kleunen won the Fordham tournament in 18:46 while Schudrowitz took a very close second just 0.2 seconds behind her.
Taylor Worthy ’17 turned some heads with a third-place finish. The junior hung with the top two runners, finishing in 18:47.
Springfield said the whole team impressed him, but Worthy stuck out with her ability to run with the top group. He added that the junior’s strong spring set her up for a big season this fall.
Filling out the top five at Fordham were familiar names from last year: co-captain Lydia Davenport ’16 and Megan Ratcliffe ’18.
Co-captain Victoria O’Neil ’16 credited the team’s excellent results to its “packing up.”
“The team used each other to be more successful,” O’Neil said. “It was a great weekend to start off the season.”
Upperclassmen turned in solid showings at Nassaney for the women. Led by 20th-place finisher Charlotte Walmsley ’16, the team placed Elizabeth Conway ’17, a former Herald senior staff writer, in 28th and Ariel Silverman ’19 in 32nd.
