2005 season preview

September 7, 2005

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College head cross country coach Paul Carr has set the bar high for his harriers in 2005. He expects the women to remain at the top of the heap in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after winning the league title in 2004 and for the men to improve upon their finish at the conference championship from a year ago. Along with second-year assistant coach Kim Spence, a former All-America selection as a Wheaton undergrad, the staff has clear-cut goals.

"Our job here is to assemble a team we think can compete for a conference championship and hopefully move on to nationals," said Carr, the 2004 NEWMAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. "There's an expectation for each runner to continue to learn, to continue to develop. There's also an expectation once we get to the championship portion of the season. We're trying to prepare our teams for the major meets: at the conference, regional and national levels."

For a women's team that won its first conference championship a year ago, Carr expects some of his top runners to return while assembling a group of first-year student-athletes that will be crucial to success. Despite early-season uncertainties, the seventh-year head coach believes this team is capable of repeating.

"We should have a pretty solid freshman class, and we're bringing back some strong runners," stated Carr, pointing toward senior captain Kendra Leith (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) and sophomore Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro). "The team that scores at this year's conference meet will be much different than the one that scored last year. We'll definitely be relying on some of the freshmen coming through."

Whether the women can take the next step and advance to the NCAA Championship is a tougher question to answer. "If the freshmen can pick up the program and system we're using, who knows, anything can happen," added Carr.

Brousseau headlines the returning runners after a stellar debut campaign, as she became the school's second female All-America performer and first since 1986. With a 30th-place finish at the NCAA meet, she was the nation's highest-placing freshman. Brousseau came in eighth at the NCAA Regional meet and ninth at the NEWMAC Championship, where she was named all-conference.

Leith earned a spot on the all-conference team after a fifth-place finish at the league championship. Leith, Brousseau and junior Jennifer Ziello (Litchfield, CT/Litchfield) are the only returning runners who finished the course at the NEWMAC Championship in less than 20 minutes. Senior Christina Langevin (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) brings veteran experience to the squad, as she has run at the last three NEWMAC Championships and broke the 20-minute mark there as a sophomore.

Sophomores Jessie Buonaccorsi (Shutesbury, MA/Amherst Regional) and Mary Ostrander (San Diego, CA/Francis Parker School) competed at the conference championship last fall as freshmen and are the only other returning runners to have seen college action. Classmate Abbe Bosk (Narberth, PA/Springside) joins the team this fall.

Five student-athletes represent the freshman class, led by two Massachusetts natives in Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School) and Amanda Rawson (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional). Megan O'Sadnick (Evergreen, CO/Evergreen), Lauren Reddy (Walnut Creek, CA/Carondelet) and Ruby Solomon (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) complete the group of newcomers.

The Wheaton men return only two seniors, a junior and a pair of sophomores to complement the six-member freshman class. Carr expects the team to have a better showing this year at the NEWMAC Championship than last year's fourth-place finish, when the Lyons were without Pat Benson (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan). Carr said Benson, now a sophomore, has the potential to be the top runner on the team.

"Everyone is a year older, our freshman class is probably a little stronger than a year ago, and last season we had a solid freshman class," said Carr. "I think there's reasonable expectation to move up in the conference." Carr also said he feels Benson and some of his teammates could make it to the NCAA Championship this year if they work hard enough.

Senior captain Eric Richardson (East Walpole, MA/Bishop Feehan) finished in the top 30 at each of the past three NEWMAC Championships, improving his finish each time, while classmate Ben Haber (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) has scored for the Blue and White at the last two conference meets. Junior Matt Peirce (Lincoln, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) is Wheaton's only other upperclassman.

Benson is joined in the sophomore class by Alex Cook (Hanover, MA/Hanover). While Benson missed all but last year's opening race due to injury, Cook placed 19th at the conference championship.

Meanwhile, the freshman class includes five New England natives and one runner from abroad. David Ng'ang'a (Subukia, Kenya/United World College of South East Asia) adds some international experience to the lineup, while Scott Clark (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow), Scott Hafferkamp (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack), Dan Libon (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro), Evan Morse (Newton, MA/Newton North) and Blair Rossetti (Plymouth, MA/Plymouth North) round out the American contingent.

Carr said the success of both the men's and women's teams will be based on how many runners pick up the system, stay healthy and do what is asked. It will also depend upon the development of the freshmen.

"The freshmen have to contribute," stated Carr. "They have four meets to learn what college cross country is all about. It's going to be up to the captains to get the freshmen up to speed as quickly as possible and get the freshmen to understand what our expectations are."

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/15/07.
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