Sept. 9, 2005

Optimistic. That's the word Sacred Heart University's head cross country coach Christian Morrison would use to describe the team's mood heading into the 2005 season. The Pioneers open up with the Fordham University Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx this Saturday, September 10, at 10:45 AM. "These teams, both the men and women, have a chance to be our best ever," stated Morrison, who is entering his 12th year at the helm of Sacred Heart's track and cross country program. Both teams worked very hard this summer, according to Morrison, and have looked better in preseason workouts than any other teams in his tenure.

The women's team is 33 athletes strong, returns all of its top 10 runners from last season, and has added several talented newcomers to the mix. As many as 22 athletes appear to have a chance to make Sacred Heart's varsity top 7 this season. With talent and depth to spare, the women hope to challenge for the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship, after finishing 4th a year ago. Morrison's women's teams have come close before, reeling off three consecutive 2nd place NEC finishes between 2001-03. They came closest to winning a conference title in 2003, losing to St. Francis (PA) by only 6 points. In a preseason poll of all NEC coaches, Sacred Heart was picked to finish 4th again this year. St. Francis (PA), and Quinnipiac were picked to finish 1st and 2nd, and Morrison cites them as the teams to beat. Monmouth, the 3rd place pick, "is always tough too," he said.

While there is no doubt that the 2003 version of the women's team has been Sacred Heart's best to date, last year's top 5 ran so well in the final meet of the season, that Morrison thinks for at least that last race, they were better than the 2003 team. In that meet, the ECAC Championships, current juniors Katie Duffy and Anne Duffy earned "All-East" honors while recording personal best times of 18:48 and 19:14, respectively, on the very challenging Van Cortlandt Park 5000 meter course. This year's senior tri-captains, Jenna Pisani (19:37), Kaitlin Clark (19:47), and Erin Kulasewski (20:12) rounded out Sacred Heart's top 5 in that race. Clark's time was also a personal best. Pisani and Kulasewski recorded their personal bests of 19:13 and 19:46, respectively, earlier in the season, but their Van Cortlandt Park performances in the ECAC meet were probably even better. "They ran those times on faster courses," stated Morrison.

Katie Duffy, who placed 5th in the NEC Cross Country Championship last year, to earn "All-NEC" honors in cross country for the first time, is in great shape and appears poised to lead the Pioneers again this season. More importantly, her twin sister Annie Duffy and Pisani have been right on her heels throughout the preseason, and Clark and Kulasewski have not been far behind. "In my estimation, all five of them will be better than last year," Morrison said. It's hard not to be optimistic when you have five runners the caliber of the Duffy twins, Pisani, Kulasewski and Clark returning, but the 2005 team features so much more. Starting with top freshman recruit Kathleen Henry, and working down a long list, it's easy to see why Morrison thinks this could be the Pioneer's best team ever.

Henry has been mixing in with the women's top 5 group since the first day of preseason, and her impressive high school credentials indicate that she could make an immediate impact. She has run 19:25 for 5000 meters at Holmdel Park, which serves as New Jersey's high school state meet course. "That course is extremely tough," Morrison says, "and it runs at least 30 seconds slower than Van Cortlandt Park." When the NEC Championship was held at Holmdel Park in 2003, only the individual race winner, Sacred Heart's Katie Wrinkle (18:50), ran faster than Henry's Holmdel best. "It was really hot and humid for a late October day," Morrison recalled, "but still, only the top 7 finishers in the NEC meet even broke 20:00 at Holmdel that day." Henry also recorded a personal best of 11:11 for 3200 meters during her senior year in high school, while placing 5th in the indoor New Jersey Meet of Champions.

Beyond the 6 athletes that have already been chronicled, a whole host of other athletes will be competing for a top 7 spot on the Pioneer women's squad this season. Morrison believes that as many as 16 additional athletes have a chance to fill out the varsity. Graduate student Terressa Howard is back for another year, along with seniors Ann Regan and Katelyn Botsford, junior Kathryn O'Connor and sophomore Margarita Landelius. These 5 athletes made up the rest of the top 10 last year, regularly trading in and out of the top 7. Howard, Regan, Botsford and O'Connor all broke 19:30 for 5000 meters on the track this past spring, and hope to translate their track times to sub-20 minute cross country performances.

Next to Henry, the other freshman newcomer most likely to crack the top 7 is Brooke Palmer. Palmer is the team's first-ever West coast recruit, and she has broken 20 minutes for 5000 meters on a number of Oregon's high school cross country courses. She has also run 10:31 for 3000 meters in outdoor track during the course of her high school career.

Another top 7 contender is junior Julia Mahoney, who has had an impressive preseason, and appears to have improved greatly over the course of the summer. Mahoney's classmates Stephanie Oberheim and Lauren DellaVolpe specialize in the middle distances in track (they were members of the Pioneer's NEC Champion 4 x 800 meter relay team this past outdoor season), but both have run especially strong in practice thus far, and may be able to stretch themselves out to run successfully at the 5000 meter distance. Others that Morrison expects to battle for a top 7 spot include senior Kelly Reagan, sophomores Amanda McLaughlin, Jessica Phelan and Rebecca Silliman, and the freshmen trio of Jennalee Wright, Caitlin Manchester and Jennifer Kelly.

Sacred Heart's men's cross country team enters the season with a smaller roster than the women, but what they lack in numbers, they hope to make up for with quality. With only 13 athletes on the squad, the men will be relying on a combination of veterans and youth, and will have to avoid injuries in order to have a successful season. In the annual NEC coaches preseason poll the men were tabbed to finish seventh. This is a pick Morrison thinks they deserve, coming off the team's dismal 10th place finish in last fall's NEC Championship, but he also believes this year's team will surprise people.

"Our goal is to improve on the 5th place finish we had in 2003, which is the best we've had in our six years in Division One," Morrison said. St. Francis (PA) and Quinnipiac were picked to finish 1-2, and are clearly the class of the field, but after that things are wide open, Morrison believes. Robert Morris, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Long Island, Central Connecticut, and Sacred Heart are the teams that Morrison thinks have a chance to finish 3rd in this year's championship. "For us, a 3rd or 4th place finish in the NEC would mark a very successful season," Morrison stated.

The men will be led this season by senior captain Tyler Arnett, who finished first for Sacred Heart in every race in 2004. Arnett has a personal best of 26:32 for five miles, which he ran at Van Cortlandt Park last November in the IC4A Championships. Arnett earned "All East" honors for his finish in that meet, and his time established a new Sacred Heart school record for the tough Van Cortlandt Park course. Morrison expects the hardworking Arnett to run even faster this year, as he has looked very good during preseason workouts.

Senior Robert Gill, with a career best of 27:36 for 5 miles, is the number two returnee for Sacred Heart, and Morrison expects him to be near the top again this season. Sophomores Stephen Zito and Robert Boerjes have had strong preseasons, and appear ready to emerge as varsity forces as well. Finally, junior Robert McDermott, who has run 28:45 for five miles, and who ran in the top 5 in many of the team's meets last fall, will also contend for a varsity spot.

The main reason for all the optimism, though, and the reason Morrison thinks the Pioneer men may be able to surprise the other NEC schools is the team's youth. The men have four freshmen who appear poised to make an immediate impact. At the top of the list is blue-chip recruit Luis German, who has great range, and who has run successfully in high school at distances from 800 meters through 5000 meters. German, who has personal bests of 4:17 for the mile, and 2:29 for 1000 meters, has pushed Arnett throughout the preseason. Morrison expects him and Arnett to battle for the number one slot all season long.

David Jones, an unheralded recruit who focused more on the middle distances in high school, ran more miles this summer than any incoming freshman in program history, according to Morrison. "Dave is training like a veteran," Morrison said, "and he looks great." Morrison thinks Jones will battle Gill and others for the number three slot on the team. Another freshman who could end up in the top three or four is Joseph Palma, who has also demonstrated fine form early on. Palma, ran a 4:25 mile in high school and was a very good cross country runner, so Morrison is hoping that background will translate to early success at the five mile distance. The fourth freshman who should contribute early and often is John Kenworthy. Like Jones, Kenworthy has put in an excellent summer of training and appears ready to exceed all expectations. A fifth freshman, Jared Scata, will likely round out the top 10 for Sacred Heart, as Morrison's charges seek redemption in the Northeast Conference Championship on October 29.