By Cameron Hurst
Contributing Writer
The St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s cross country teams had a successful weekend at Delaware Park Golf Course in Buffalo for the Little Three Invitational, finishing in third place while the women’s team finished in second.
“We had a good weekend,” said Bob MacFarlane, head coach of men’s and women’s cross country teams. “You’re never satisfied with what you have; you’ve always got to strive to be better, no matter what you do in life and competition wise.”
MacFarlane’s work toward bettering the program has been a long process since he took over as head coach of St. Bonaventure in the summer of 2010, but following a June 2015 announcement of the university’s intention to add distance-only track teams, his goal for the cross country teams to become competitive finally had a chance to be realized.
“When we got our proposal put through with the track, we knew that we were able to compete year round, which is going to make it a lot better for us,” said MacFarlane.
MacFarlane was able to recruit 14 freshmen for the 2016-17 academic year. One of those freshmen, William Delaney, was the Bonnies’ top male finisher at the Little Three Championships on Friday, coming in 12th overall, with a time of 16:29.1. Considering his finish, Delaney is excited about the future of the program.
“Underclassmen are huge in this young program,” said Delaney. “There were not many men and women on the team a few years ago and the addition of the track program definitely interests more high schooler’s around the country and mainly the northeast region.”
Delaney also believes that the best possible recruiters for the team, going forward, will ultimately be the current athletes.
“The underclassmen are able to talk to other recruits from their areas and spread the word about this great school easily,” Delaney said. “With so many young guns on both squads, the competition on the team rises and everyone does better together as we all push each other.”
As for the women’s team, its second place finish at the Little Three Invitational is another positive step in the right direction for the program, with sophomore Emily Izydorczak coming in as the Bonnies’ top finisher with a time of 20:12.0.
Izydorczak, after a full year of experience, is thankful for the atmosphere MacFarlane has created with the cross country program, especially pushing the team to work together and become better.
“Coach Mac has not only brought in a wonderful freshman class, but he has truly fostered an environment that makes us thrive together that is almost like a second family,” said Izydorczak. “Each member of the team has someone to work with, and no one needs to face any problem alone.”
Izydorczak is also excited about the future of the program, especially after the addition of a powerful freshman class.
“The results that the team earned on Friday only shows a fraction of the potential that we have,” said Izydorczak on the team’s ability to grow in the coming years. “Cross country is a special sport because improvement can very easily be tracked. It is evident that our team is on the brink of an amazing change. As our team continues to build, I think it will be interesting to look at the times and see the change from past until present. I think that our program is becoming more dominant and that in a few years it will become a force to be reckoned with.”
MacFarlane agreed the team is on the right track, but noted development occurs rather slowly.
“Rome wasn’t created in seven days,” MacFarlane said. “It takes a long time. We’re at Division I level, and a lot of programs are that much farther ahead of us, but [the] administration and campus have put more emphasis to help us elevate our programs.”
The St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete next at the Binghamton Invitational in Vestal, on Sept. 17.
hurstc16@bonaventure.edu
