Elizabethtown College’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are already off to a great start for their 2013 season. Both teams attended the Galen E. Piper Alumni Open/XC Challenge at Shippensburg University on Friday Sept. 6. Matt Rever, one of the senior captains, said the conditions for racing were good, with nice weather and a flat course. Since this meet was at night, they were running under the lights, which was something new and exciting for both teams. Sophomore Matt Shenk led the men’s team, taking first place. Sophomore Zach Trama, junior Dan Gresh and senior Stephen Welsh put out top performances for the Blue Jays as well. The men’s team had strong competition, because Shippensburg is a Division II team, but they managed to come in third place with 90 points.
The women took first place with 38 points and had five girls in the top 12. The women were led by senior Traci Tempone, who took second place overall at the meet. Following Tempone was senior Eileen Cody who came in seventh, senior Megan Tursi coming in eighth and junior Amelia Tearnan taking ninth.
Rever said the men’s team has a large and talented first-year class with a total of 14 new men added to the group. They only lost three seniors from last year, so they have a very solid group of runners this season. Some of the upperclassmen started their seasons with injuries, but the underclassmen have stepped up and haven’t let the injuries get in the way of any team goals. The men’s team started off their season ranked 35thin the nation and sixth in the region. Their goal is to win the MAC Conference for the fifth time in a row and get top four in the region to be able to make it to nationals.
Elaina Nellis, a senior captain for the women’s team, said she is very excited to see how this season pans out, especially since there are 13 first-years. Because this is their last year competing in the MAC Conference, a goal for the women’s team is to leave the conference with a seventh straight win. Nellis said winning the MAC Championship this year would be very special to all the seniors, who would be able to walk away with four MAC Championships. Further goals for the women’s team would be to make it back to Nationals and beat the top 12 place they had when the seniors were first-years. The women’s team started off their season ranked 31st in the nation and fourth in the region.
The Blue Jays have set their goals for the season and have a supportive coaching staff to make sure they accomplish them. Head Coach Brian Falk and Assistant Coach Jeremy Matula ‘09 are joined this year by Assistant Coach Jamie McCollum. McCollum graduated from Shippensburg University in 2012, where she ran cross country and track and acquired an astounding “track record.” She competed in the 2011 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships and earned All-American honors on the track. She has a great deal of experience with and knowledge of being a student athlete, and the team is very excited to have her as their new assistant coach.
With 13 first-years on the women’s team, 14 first-years on the men’s team and a new assistant coach, there is plenty of new talent among the already strong ECXC family. Follow and show support for these teams as they embark on their last year in the MAC Conference and continue their exciting journey to championships and nationals.
