2013 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY SEASON IN REVIEW

BOSTON, Mass. – The 2013 Cross Country season was a record-setting one at Emmanuel College.  Both, the men's and women's teams took home the College's first-ever Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championships.  The men's cross country title was also the Emmanuel's first-ever men's conference championship in any sport since the College went co-ed in 2001.  The two cross country championships in the Fall of 2013 also marked the first time that Emmanuel earned more than one championship in single season.

The double GNAC titles were not the only goals achieved by the Saints this season.  Following the conference championship meet, Emmanuel headed to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship and then on to the NCAA Division III Regional Championship, with goals of finishing among the top 30 programs in the New England region.  Check another goal off the list, as the Emmanuel men snagged 29th place out of the 50 competing teams and the Emmanuel women took 32nd out of 53 teams.

Individual honors were also abundant throughout the 2013 campaign.  Sophomore transfer Sean Colford (Epping, N.H.) made an immediate impact on the Emmanuel men's team.  Colford stepped right in to lead the Saints in all six of the meets in which he raced.  He notched individual wins in both the Runnin' Monks Invitational on October 12th and the GNAC Championship on November 2nd.  Throughout the season, Colford was named the GNAC Runner of the Week five different times, before garnering GNAC Runner of the Year honors at the conference championship meet, as well as spots on both the GNAC All-Conference Team and All-Sportsmanship Team.  Peaking at the right time throughout the season, Colford's 8k time of 26:42 at the NCAA Regionals was an Emmanuel program-record.

Two other newcomers were also crucial contributors to the success of the Emmanuel men's team this Fall. Rookies Marco Caserta (Topsfield, Mass.) and Ian Chamenko (Beacon Falls, Conn.) finished among the Saints' top-five in the majority of Emmanuel's eight meets.  Chamenko earned GNAC Rookie of the Week honors on September 9th after finishing fourth for the Saints with his 5k time of 17:47 at the Roger Williams University Invitational.  Caserta was named to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll on September 23rd after pacing the Saints to a third place finish at the Pop Crowell Invitational.  He also earned a spot on the GNAC All-Conference Team with his 5th place finish in an 8k time of 28:22 at the GNAC Championship Meet.

Team captain Michael Morris (Stoughton, Mass.), along with veterans Christopher Connelly (Quincy, Mass.) and Pat Callan (Pawling, N.Y.) ran among the Saints' lead pack throughout the season.  Connelly scored in all seven of his meets, running his personal best 8k time of 28:28 at the NCAA Regionals.  Morris scored in Emmanuel's top five in his first three meets, notching his season best time of 29:56 at Gordon College on September 21st. Callan also scored in the Saints' opening three meets and ran his season best time of 29:50 at the Saints Invitational on October 18th.  Senior captain Nate Bruno (Lenox, Mass.) raced third for Emmanuel in the GNAC Championship in 29:36 and then clocked his season best 8k time of 29:08 on November 16th at the NCAA Regionals.

The Emmanuel women placed four runners among the conference's top-ten at the GNAC Championship with Molly Metivier (Keene, N.H.), Meaghan Mauer (South Hadley, Mass.), Chloe Egan (Burlington, Vt.) and Janelle Winship (Prospect, Me.) all earning All-Conference recognition.  The quartet ran as a pack with Metivier finishing sixth, Mauer in seventh, Egan in eighth and Winship tenth out of the 114 total runners.  Along with sophomore Julie Roberts (Williamsburg, Mass.) and rookie Olivia Wakefield (Easton, Mass.), the six women all set personal records in 2013.

Metivier led Emmanuel in every meet in which she raced this season, earning GNAC Runner of the Week honors on September 9th and a spot on the conference Weekly Honor Roll on September 23rd and October 21st.  Egan was a top-three runner for the Saints throughout the season and Mauer finished in Emmanuel's top-three in six of her seven meets.

Winship and Chloe Pangonis (Keene, N.H.) were consistent top-fivers for the Emmanuel women with the two running their 5k PR times at the 2013 Saints Invitational. Wakefield was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week on September 2nd after opening the season with a 13:49 two-mile time at the Fens Classic.

Along with sophomore Sarah Barnard (Hopkinton, N.H.), seniors Fallon Greer (Masspee, Mass.) and Danielle Martin (York, Me.) represented the Saints in the ECAC Championship on November 9th.  Greer also earned a spot on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team for Emmanuel.

Most of the Saints are now gearing up for the height of the 2013-14 Indoor Track and Field season this January.  The 2013 Cross Country campaign marked the final time on the course for the six seniors on the men's team.  Along with Bruno, Callan and Morris, Chris Baker (Holden, Mass.) Ben Perdue (Chicopee, Mass.) and Rich Morrow (Woodstock, Conn.) will graduate this May.  The women's team will lose Amy DeNuzzio (Windham , N.H.), Abigail Dudley (Yarmouthport, Mass.) and Kelly Ulf (Lunenburg, Mass.), along with Greer, Martin, Metivier and Mauer to graduation this Spring.

Five-time GNAC Coach of the Year and Emmanuel Head Coach Tony DaRocha, along with Assistant Coach Alice Kramer, will return in 2014 for their 14th seasons at the helm of both the men's and women's programs.  The tenured coaches will return 15 male and 10 female veterans for the 2014 campaign, as the Saints look to repeat on their GNAC titles next Fall.