Here is an article that I wrote for the Spectrum, enjoy!
Halloween was a day of excitement and disappointment at the Northeast Conference Championships for the Sacred Heart University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams. Both teams finished in the top five overall, with the women taking second place and the men finishing in fourth at the NEC meet which was held at Quinnipiac University. “The women finished as expected,” said coach Christian Morrison. “We knew it was going to be very difficult for us to finish higher than second.” Helping the women capture second place was junior Kimberly DeLoreto who came in first overall with a time of 17:58.1. “Although the girls’ team could have taken home a team championship, I know that every one of us did the best we could and that is all you can ask for,” said DeLoreto. DeLoreto was followed by Olivia Civardi, who placed 14th overall with a time of 19:10.2. Rounding out the SHU women’s top-seven finishers were junior Samantha Troy in 16th place (19:15.9), senior Sarah Tencza in 17th (19:21.9), freshman Alyssa Selmquist in 23rd (19:36.1), sophomore Sarah Pollock in 32nd (20:04.0) and sophomore Mary St. Thomas in 38th (20:12.0). Even though the women’s team went home as runners-up, they knew going into the race that they would be faced with a difficult task to beat Quinnipiac. “Some challenges going into this race was of course the fact that we were the underdogs, even with such a talented and hardworking team,” said DeLoreto. “We did everything we possibly could to prepare, and we gave all we could out there on the course, but we did know going into the race it was Quinnipiac’s to lose.” The men’s team faced similar obstacles on Saturday with a finish that was lower than expected. “The men’s finish was a little disappointing, but it doesn’t take away from the strong season they’ve had,” said Morrison. Finishing first for the men in 12th place overall and earning All-NEC honors was junior Andrew Houghtalen with a time of 26:59.8. Throughout the season, Houghtalen was one of the Pioneers’ top runners, consistently finishing in the top-ten in most races. On Saturday, however, Houghtalen was forced to battle through a slew of injuries which hampered his overall performance. Sacred Heart’s Kimberly DeLoreto holds up her first place trophy after competing in the NEC Championship meet at Quinnipiac University on Oct. 31. Photo courtesy of Athletic Communications “Drew had some hip flexor and groin problems during the race which most likely cost him eight spots or so,” said senior captain Brendan Rickert. Despite the injuries, Morrison said that it is something that the team has had to overcome throughout the season. “For the men, a few of our top runners have fought through injury and illness this season, and this has certainly caught up with us a little,” said Morrison. Coming in second place for the Pioneers was sophomore Jeffrey Lusignan, who also earned All-NEC honors. Lusignan placed 14th overall with a time of 27:07.5. The remaining top-seven finishers consisted of freshman Christopher Connelly in 20th place (27:25.9), sophomore Richard Marcello in 24th place (27:32.1), junior Daniel Koehler in 28th place (27:37.8), senior Luis German in 46th place (28:02.6) and senior Ryan Murdoch in 48th place (28:05.1). Despite finishing fourth overall, the team felt they could have done better. “As a team we were disappointed because we felt that this was our best chance in program history to win a conference title and we all went in feeling very fresh and motivated to try and win,” said captain and senior Ryan Murdoch. Even though the team was not satisfied with the results, they are trying to remain optimistic and not dwell on the race too much. “I’ve always said experience goes a long way and this is still a younger team,” said Rickert. “Hopefully we can use this to better prepare and execute our race plan.”
