Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY KYLE MAIER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s cross country teams head to Bronx on Friday, to compete in the Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park. Hosted by Columbia University, this meet is the last of the Bonnies’ 2023 season.
The men’s team is coming off a 14th-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship in October, their best A-10 Championship finish since 2015. Junior Clay Peets ran a 24:53.48, the fastest men’s A-10 Championship time in school history. Individually, Peets finished 33rd of 141 runners.
Sophomore Aiden Scattergood was the second Bonnie to finish, running a 25:22.67 and finishing 60th individually.
The women’s team finished 15th at their Atlantic 10 Championship. Sophomore Mia Winters led the way with a 22:58.7 time, the best by a female Bonnie in the A-10 Championship since 2014. Winters placed 67th individually out of 141 runners.
Freshman Meghan Lex had an impressive conference-championship debut, running 23:13.4 and placing 80th individually.
Both the men’s and women’s teams look forward to the season finale.
“Going into regionals, our team is looking to beat a few schools within our region to show that we can compete at a national level and not just a conference level,” said freshman Joshua Lopez. “The big thing for our young team is to gain experience and learn what it means to compete against the best in the NCAA, so that we are more composed when we return in the coming years.”
Lopez earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors in October.
“I am expecting it to be a little intimidating going into regionals, but I feel like that is what is going to make it so exciting,” added Winters. “I am expecting myself and the team to all just get out there and hopefully PR but overall do our best.”
The season’s conclusion allows the Bonnies to reflect on their performances this fall.
“Our team has progressively improved since the first meet of the season,” said Peets. “We had a lot of work to do following our performance at the Little Three Championship because we didn’t race to our expectations. Ever since then, we focused up, stayed healthy and eventually began to see improvement. Personally, I have viewed the season as a huge learning year. I have been in contention for wins at a few invites this year, and I’m learning what it takes to win races. So next year, I can apply what I learned, especially at the A-10 championship.”
Peets won A-10 Performer of the Week in October.
“Overall, this season, I think the entire team as a whole has come such a long way, and everyone this season has improved tremendously,” said Winters. “Collectively, the team’s performance has improved from last year, and I am so proud to be able to be part of my team and be on a team with all of those girls.”
The women will run a 6-kilometer race while the men will run a 10 kilometer race. The women’s start time is 11 a.m., and the men’s start time is noon.
maierkj22@bonaventure.edu
