BY ANDREW HALE, STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure Men’s and Women’s cross country teams competed at the Atlantic 10 Championship in Mechanicville, Virginia last Saturday. The men finished 15th out of 15 teams and the women placed 14th out of 15 teams.
Head coach Bob McFarlane was glad to see his senior runners finish their college careers with their best personal records.
“I was very ecstatic for our two seniors because there’s no better way to finish their collegiate cross country careers than to have their best times ever,” McFarlane said. “Every meet something happens that makes you feel proud that you were a part of the program. This was special because they can go out knowing they ran their best.”
Senior Darion Gregory placed second on the team and 94th overall out of 138 runners. Gregory finished with a time of 26:13.6 in his final race as a Bonnie. Senior Lindsey Clawson placed third on the women’s team and 108th overall out of 136 runners. Clawson finished with a time of 19:27.6 which marked her best time in an A-10 Championship.
The teams also had notable performances from sophomore Clay Peets and freshman Claire Cuneo. Peets, who broke multiple Bonnies records during the season, finished 71st overall and first on the men’s side of the team with a time of 25:49.6. Cuneo, who finished first for the Bonnies with a time of 18:59.9, placed 76th overall.
Similar to the A-10 Championship, in the regular season, the team was led by their younger runners. Six of the women’s top seven runners were freshmen and a majority of the top ten runners for the men’s team consisted of freshmen and sophomores.
“I’m very happy with the development of the team,” McFarlane said. “Hopefully our recruitment process goes as well as it has the past two years. We can be better, but I’ve been very impressed with the freshmen that we have.”
McFarland has been even more impressed with his team’s performance off the field.
“We have some nice athletes, but what I like most about all of them is their work ethic. They want to do well, they are dedicated and they like to have fun,” McFarlane said. “They enjoy college and that bodes well for our team as a whole. As a coach, not only am I proud of their athletic achievements, I’m also proud of what they are achieving academically.”
While the cross country season has come to an end, the team looks to relay their success in the fall to the winter.. The Bonnies are already looking forward to what they can accomplish during the indoor track season, which begins in January.
“Our goal right now, going into indoor track season, is to become stronger athletes. Once you become a stronger athlete, the work will be much easier.” McFarlane said.” For our distance runners, especially during the winter and the spring, we focus on biometrics, agility and speed, which will hopefully allow us to become more successful come time for the season. It’s a long process but a fun process.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
