By Kelly Rickert
Staff Writer
This fall, cross-country is off to an impressive start. Considering that both the Men’s and Women’s teams are relatively young, with three of the top five runners on each team being freshmen. The beginning of the season promises great things for the rest of the fall. In fact, for the season opener, the Men’s team placed third out of eleven teams and the Women’s team placed second out of eleven. The teams are both led by head coach Kevin Borelli, with the help of assistant coaches Heidi Wolfsberger and John Evangelista.
Last season the Men’s overall record was 28-78 and the Women’s record was 53-49. However, their record is unlike that of most other sports, as they race anywhere from ten to thirty teams at a time, so there is quite a challenge to face with each race throughout the season. Knowing this, the teams did quite a bit of preparation for this fall. They trained year round to make sure that they were up to the challenge. Coach Borelli said that Marywood’s non-traditional track season, which was in place for the first time last year, seemed to have a hand in preparing them for the fall. The runners also prepared through summer running and came into their pre-season camp week ready to work hard, which made it easier for the coaches to prepare them to race. The team has worked hard thus far and is beginning to see the results of their hard work.
This year, according to Coach Borelli, the teams are a lot different from last year. With the main difference being the teams’ young talent. He says, “The mix of youth with a few experienced runners is a nice mix.” The teams have worked hard so far and will continue to do so in anticipation of their biggest races, conferences and regionals, at the end of the season. Coach Borelli is proud of the teams and said, “Personally, it is a very rewarding experience being able to watch their hard work pay off on race day…It’s awesome to hear the team talking about breaking records, being the best team to come through Marywood, and having fun.” He expects big things from these teams both this season and in years to come.