Sept. 10, 2004

FAIRFIELD, CT - (September 10, 2004) - The Sacred Heart University men and women's cross country teams will open the 2004 season this Saturday, September 11th when they run at the Fordham Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NY. The Pioneer women were picked to finish 3rd in this season's Northeast Conference Coaches Poll while the men where tabbed to place 4th at the end of the season.

The big question for this year's women's team is whether the Pioneers can overcome the loss of 10 seniors including All-NEC stars Katie Wrinkle and Suzanne Neglia along with Christina Mendoza, Erin Roche and Emily Marks.

The Pioneers and head coach Christian Morrison will once again field one of the bigger teams in the Northeast with 23 runners donning the red and white this season. With the addition of five freshman to this year's team, SHU will rely upon the continued development of a strong stable of returning runners to continue their recent level of success and make another run a the NEC title.

Junior captain Erin Kulasewski (West Warwick, RI) will lead the charge for the women, back as the team's top returning finisher from last year's NEC championship. Kulasewski placed 15th at the NEC meet, just one place out of a spot on the all-conference team. She missed the outdoor season with an illness, but is back stronger than ever, and looks like a good bet to move into the top-14 this year at NEC's. Fellow junior captain Jenna Pisani (Vernon, NJ) also returns looking to put the injuries of the past two cross country seasons in the rearview mirror and make a consistent impact week in and week out for the Pioneers. Pisani emerged in a big way during the spring track season, placing fifth in the outdoor NEC's and 12th at the New England's in the 10,000 meters. She also recorded a personal best of 19:08 in the 5000-meters last spring.

Fellow junior Kaitlin Clark (Babylon, NY) will be counted on to translate her success on the track into success on the cross country course this fall. Clark emerged last winter as one of the best middle distance runners in school history, taking fifth in the mile at indoor NEC's, and fourth in the 1500-meters in the outdoor NEC's. She broke Wrinkle's school record in the 1500 at the outdoor New England's last spring with a time of 4:43 and also ran a 2:14 leg on our second place 4x800 relay at New England's.

A pair of sophomore sisters will also be main cogs in the Pioneer line-up this season in Katie and Annie Duffy (Monroe, CT). Katie Duffy struggled with minor injuries last year, but is healthy and in great preseason form to start the year. She placed 18th in the NEC's last fall and also placed third in the 3000-meter steeplechase in the outdoor NEC's and ran a leg on our victorious 4x800 relay team. She's already ranks 11th on the school's all-time list for in cross country. Annie Duffy struggled at the conference meet last year, but otherwise was in SHU's top five or six runners most of the fall. Like her twin sister, she struggled with minor injuries all of last year, but came into the preseason in the best shape of her life and looking for a breakout season.

One of SHU's other top experienced runners is senior Cheryl Beaulieu (East Hampton, CT), who could challenge for a top-five spot on the team. Cheryl has placed 33rd in the NEC's the last two years and is the only member of the team to compete in three conference championship races. Her lifetime personal best time of 19:49 ranks her 16th on SHU's all-time cross country list.

Other Pioneers expected to challenge for a top-finishes every week include senior Terressa Howard (Meridan, CT) (34th in the NEC meet last fall), senior captain Jackie Donatelli (Scituate, RI) (emerged with a 2:22 800 meters last winter), junior Katelyn Botsford (Cresskill, NJ) (7th in the NEC 3000 meter steeplechase last spring), sophomore Kathryn O'Connor (Bellmore, NY), junior Ann Regan (Westfield, MA), sophomore Julia Mahoney (Topsfield, MA), junior Kelly Reagan (New Milford, CT), sophomore Erin Spilka (Hamden, CT) and freshmen Jessica Phelan (Wantagh, NY), Rebecca Silliman (Portland, CT), Amanda McLaughlin (Stony Point, NY) and Margarita Landelius (New Haven, CT) (5:24 1600-meters and 2:19 800-meters last spring).

The Pioneer men have to replace the loss of the school's top cross country runner ever, Matt Uzenski along with fellow graduates Andrew Renna and Joe Zalak. SHU posts a solid returning core and some talented newcomers to draw from in pursuit of toping last fall's best-ever finish (fifth) at the NEC Championships.

The men are lead by a strong trio of juniors in Bobby Howard (Levittown, NY) (26th NEC), co-captain Tyler Arnett (Clinton Corners, NY) (28th NEC), and Robert Gill (Braintree, MA) (37th NEC). Senior co-captain Mike Hannon (Stony Point, NY) (58th NEC) has emerged as a solid contender for a top-five spot this fall, after logging as much as 100 miles per week over the summer. Hannon has improved nearly six minutes over the five mile distance since the start of his freshman year at SHU. Arnett, who ran a very fast 27:10 for five miles at Van Cortlandt Park in the IC4A meet last fall, has also been putting in as much work this summer and is in fine form for the start of the season.

Sophomore Tim Larson (Smithfield, RI) (41st NEC) was SHU's fifth runner in the NEC championship last year. Sophomore Rob McDermott (Lindenhurst, NY) (51st NEC) will also be a factor in determining the Pioneer's top-seven runners throughout the season.

Freshman Steve Zito (Guilford, CT) concentrated mostly on the 800 meters in high school with a personal best of 1:59, but he has looked especially strong during pre-season workouts. Zito looks like the freshman most likely to challenge for a top-five spot. Fellow freshmen Jimmy Daly (Kensington, MD) and Joe Mordarski (Greenlawn, NY) have also looked good during the preseason and each have a chance to challenge for a varsity slot. Rob Boerjes (Patchogue, NY) (1:56 800 meters and 2:32 1000 meters) has the best high school credentials of the freshman group, and could end up on the varsity if he can successfully negotiate the five mile distance.

After opening the season at Fordham, the Pioneers will take part in two Connecticut races, the Quinnipiac Invitational, the site of this year's NEC race, and the Fairfield Invitational. The New England Championships are slated for October 9th followed by the Collegiate Track Conference Championship on October 23rd and the NEC Championships on October 30th.

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