By Pat Tintle
Staff Writer
What started as a cold, drizzling October afternoon in Buffalo ended in celebration for sophomore cross country runner Kerry Caher.
Caher, who seems to be breaking a school record every week, finished her last 5K race of the season with a time of 18:38.3, breaking senior Kady Weisner’s women’s record by more than eight seconds. Weisner set the previous record earlier this year at the National Catholic Championships.
The team took to the line at noon on Oct. 19th, anticipating a tough race against Canisius and Niagara. Despite the conditions, Caher and the rest of the team were ready to compete.
“We were all freezing cold on the starting line,” Caher said. “But you forget about the cold once you start running.”
In tough conditions, one must adapt in order to stay competitive, according to Caher.
“I knew that I wanted to start out fast,” Caher said. “We ran the course earlier in the season, and I had gone out a little more conservatively. I knew that in order to have a new PR (personal record), I would have to run a quicker first mile.”
Knowing that she had a chance to win, Caher began her race with the game plan to get ahead early.
“(Coach Macfarlane) said ‘Don’t hold back,’” Caher said. “So I got my pace as early as possible.”
Following instructions, Caher ran her first mile in 5:42, solidifying her early lead.
Caher’s eventual first-place finish would propel the Bonnies to a second-place finish among the three schools. Niagara’s Kim Vona followed Caher, and the Bonnies rounded out the top three spots, with Kady Weisner finishing in third with a time of 18:59.0.
Known as a fierce competitor among her teammates, Caher is a major reason for the recent turn-around in Bonaventure cross country. Caher now holds the top times for both the 5K and 6K, and there is more success on the way in the rest of her collegiate career, according to her teammates.
“Kerry’s performance at such a high level is directly related to her hard work and complete dedication to the team,” sophomore Maggie Schunk said. “Even though she just set the 5K record, I know that she will strive to do better and break her own record.”
Caher not only performed well as an individual, but she also has helped to set the team’s new attitude in the 2013 season thus far, according to her captain, Hannah Robinson.
“In addition to running well herself, Kerry motivates us to run well so that the entire team improves,” Robinson said. “She motivates and supports her teammates, whether we’re on or off the course.”
Caher is a great model of leading by example, something that every team needs in order to exceed expectations as the Bonnies have done in this breakthrough season, according to Schunk.
“Her work ethic is superior, and she always puts the team first,” Schunk said. “She is mentally and physically an extremely tough runner and a great role model for all of us.”
But Caher said she does not want to look too far into the future, at least for now.
“We want to place higher in the Atlantic 10 than we did last year,” Caher said. “Last year, we only beat one team, so I think it’s a reasonable goal to try and beat at least two or three teams this year.”
