BY DAN GEYER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s cross country teams hosted their first event of the season, the Little Three Championship, Sept. 3 at the Marra Athletics Complex.
Both teams finished second. The men placed ahead of Niagara, but fell to Canisius by 19 points. The women also placed ahead of Niagara, but fell to Canisius by 15.
On the men’s side, it was sophomore Clay Peets who paced the Bonnies with a 15:16.3, finishing second overall and setting a new school record.
Other notable finishers were: senior Darion Gregory, fifth place, 16:01.3; freshman Aiden Scattergood, 10th, 16:16.7; freshman Alex Ryan, 11th, 16:19.5; sophomore Collin McCarthy, 12th, 16:21.3; freshman Christian Figueroa, 16th, 16:39.1; sophomore Thomas Dachik, 19th, 16:50.2; and junior Zane Courtwright, 20th, 16:55.9.
“On the men’s side, I am impressed with their development,” said men’s and women’s cross country coach Bob MacFarlane. “It’s a young team. If you look at our top 10, five are sophomores and three are freshmen – that’s how young we are.”
MacFarlane was especially complimentary of Gregory.
“Darrien Gregory, our number-two runner, is a senior,” said MacFarlane. “Darrien is a machine – he keeps going and going. He’s a great kid”
On the women’s side, freshman Jenna Gregory finished second overall with a time of 18:55.6.
Other notable finishers were: freshman Claire Cueno, third place, 19:02.8; freshman Mia Winters, ninth, 19:28.7; freshman Faith Caldwell, 11th, 19:59.4; freshman Abigail Mainville, 13th, 20:02.6; sophomore Olivia Ippolito, 17th, 20:18.1; junior Lauren Magee, 18th, 20:22.5; freshman Molly Gipson, 19th, 20:22.9; and senior Lindsey Clawson, 20th, 20:34.4.
“This is a very young group,” said MacFarlane. “Out of our top 10, six are freshmen – and the top five are freshmen.”
MacFarlane said his women’s team especially should continue to improve.
“Two of our older girls, Emily Peterson and Lindsey Clawson, are our captains,” said MacFarlane. “They are recovering from injuries and are in a modified program. They know they should be doing better and should be in the top five by the end of the season.”
MacFarlane said that he has already had runners qualify for the Atlantic 10 Championships.
“We’ve already had five guys and five girls qualify,” said MacFarlane. “Our goal is to have 10 girls and 10 guys qualify for the A-10 Championships. Our goal for these first two three meets is to prepare our runners for the A-10s.”
The next meet for the cross country teams occurs on Sept. 24 as they travel to Rochester for the Harry Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College.
“What we say is that hopefully everyone improves,” said MacFarlane. “You’re competing against yourself. We start to become a better team, so we are prepared when A-10s come around. We want to build our schedule and use most of our schedule … to prepare for A-10s.”
geyerd18@bonaventure.edu
