By Ethan MacKrell
Contributing Writer
This past weekend, the Bonnies traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, to conclude their seasons at the Northeast Regionals at Boston College.
Both the men’s and women’s teams placed 37th at the event. Seniors Joe Ferencik and Aubrie Russell had their team’s best performances. Ferencik placed 197th overall out of 243 runners with a time of 34:08 on the 10-kilometer course, while Russell’s time of 24:11 for six kilometers placed 205th out of 297.
Coming in second for the men’s team was red-shirt sophomore Ben Collins, who recorded a time of 34:52, and freshman Caleb Johnson and seniors Nick Konotopskyj and Caleb Lecker rounded out the top five for the Bonnies.
Notable performances from the women’s team came from freshman Emily Izydorcak and sophomore Hailey Gattuso, who posted times of 24:28 and 24:36, respectively.
Even though the team didn’t run as well as it would have liked to, Lecker was very pleased with the team’s effort on Friday, he said.
“I believe that we all ran well. We didn’t run our best as a team, but we ran as hard as we could and gave it everything that we had, which have been our team goals all season long,” Lecker said. “We finished our last race strong and ended our year feeling accomplished as a team because we knew we gave it all we had.”
Gattuso agreed and said the runners can learn from the experience.
“I believe that every one of us gave it our all, but we definitely didn’t perform as well as we could have if we had been more prepared,” Gattuso said. “I don’t think we were at all ready for that course, but now we have a better idea of what we need to work on for next fall.”
The race was the last meet that Lecker would compete in during his St. Bonaventure career, and he had a lot to reflect on, he said.
“I knew it would be my last trip with my awesome team, as well as the last huddle I would have with them before the race,” Lecker said. “I was determined to run as hard as I possibly could in this regionals race both for my teammates as well as myself”
Collins believed there was a lot to take away from the season, he said.
“Together, we took a big step for the program. It was the first time in many years we moved out of the last spot in the A-10 conference. This is a major accomplishment for a program this young,” Collins said. “Ever since I became a member of the team, this has been one of our goals. I would love to see us stay out of the bottom. I don’t see any reason we can’t. Each year we seem to get better and better.”
With all the improvement that the Bonnies showed this season, Collins has high hopes for this team in the future and is excited to be a part of it, he said.
“Next season will be the first year St. Bonaventure will offer a distance-only track program. Many schools, such as George Washington, have recently done the same,” Collins said. “You can see how far they have come since expanding the program. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us.”
