Cross Country Teams Open Up Saturday at Shacklette Invitational
The Southern New Hampshire University cross country teams open their 2009 season this weekend when it competes at the Saint Anselm Shacklette Invitational on Saturday. Both the men's and women's squads have a total of seven meets on this season's schedule.
The women's squad, led by seventh-year head coach Sid Slark, returns four runners from last season's squad that was ranked 10th in the region in the USTFCCCA coaches' poll for several weeks in 2008. The returners are juniors Melissa Hurley (Ashaway, R.I.) and Allison Trafton (Salem, N.H.) and sophomores Jacquelyn Dussault (Manchester, N.H.) and Emma Lundberg (Vinalhaven, Maine).
Hurley competed in all seven events last year and registered a
season and career-best 21:18 5K effort in the Northeast-10
Championship. Trafton was slowed by an injury suffered at the
Pop Crowell Invitational, the fourth event of the year. She
had a season-best time of 23:55 at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational
on September 20.
Both Dussault and Lundberg had several strong showings as freshmen. The pair combined to record seven of the top 20 five-kilometer times in the women's cross country program's history. Dussault had four of the top 20 times, including a season-best 20:11 effort to finish 22nd out of 276 runners at the Pop Crowell Invitational. That mark was good for fifth in program history.
Lundberg, meanwhile, turned in the second, third and fourth-fastest 5K times in the 14-year history of the program. She recorded a 19:59 effort at the Pop Crowell, only the second sub-20 minute effort and the first since Vanessa Picone's school record 19:48 in 2004. She also turned in a pair of 20:06 efforts at the New England Championship at Franklin Park and the NE-10 Championship.
The women's squad also welcomes a pair of newcomers this season in Laura Durvin (North Scituate, R.I.) and Christina Montefusco (Danvers, Mass.). Durvin competed in cross country at Saint Raphael Academy and recorded a 22nd place finish in the Rhode Island state meet as a senior. Montefusco finished 21st in the Eastern Mass. meet as a senior as she helped Danvers High School to a third place finish. She also competed in track for the Falcons.
The men's squad, led by third-year
head coach Jaime Gratton, returns six members from last season's
squad. The Penmen 
return one senior, Sam Tarrant (Cleverdale,
N.Y.). The top returning runner from last season, he was
SNHU's second-highest finisher in six of seven events and recorded
a collegiate-best 29:15 eight-kilometer time at the UMass Dartmouth
Invitational. He was also the lone SNHU runner at the NCAA
East Regional, registering a 10K time of 38:05.
A pair of juniors and three sophomores round out the Southern New Hampshire roster. Junior Michael Smith (Lynnfield, Mass.) competed in six events last fall and had a season-best time of 30:47 at UMass Dartmouth. Classmate Brian White (Windham, N.H.) competed in one event last fall, posting a 5K time of 23:51 at Bryant.
Sophomore Jason Bays (Cresco, Pa.) competed in five events as a freshman and posted a season-best time of 30:18 at the Northeast-10 Championship. Kevin Coyle (Salem, N.H.) also competed in five events and had a season-best 30:37, while Matt Gray (Haverhill, Mass.) competed in six events last season, recording a season-best effort at UMass Dartmouth at 33:13.
Both Penmen squads will compete at the Northeast-10 Championships October 25 at Saint Michael's College. The NCAA East Regional will once again be held at Boston's Franklin Park on Sunday, November 8.
