Photo: Atlantic 10 Conference
BY: ANDREW RUSS AND ROGER WEBSTER, STAFF WRITERS
On Oct. 1, Juniors Aiden Scattergood and Mia Winters received Atlantic 10 cross-country performers of the week. Scattergood finished in the top 10 in the 8k at the Lock Haven Invitational while Winters had a top-20 finish in the 6k.
Scattergood led the Bonnies men’s team in all three meets this season. At the LHI, he broke the 25-minute mark for the second time in his career, making him the second Bonnie ever to accomplish that feat. Scattergood talked about what has led to his accomplishments so far at Bona’s.
“Coaches MacFarlane and Lonzi have set me and all of our athletes up very well by being responsive to what we need as athletes,” said Scattergood.
Coach Bob MacFarlane has been at the helm of the Bonnies cross-country team for 14 years. Both runners said MacFarlane pushes them to be the best they can.
Winters finished the LHI with the fastest 6k time by a Bonnie in a decade and the second-best time in program history, surpassing her personal best by 34 seconds with a time of 22:04.1.
“I never in a million years would’ve thought I would be running the times that I am running now,” said Mia Winters.
Having not run cross country in high school, Scattergood talked about the challenges that running at such a high caused.
“I was not really prepared for what was to come and trying to balance higher mileages was very difficult,” said Scattergood.
Winters also dealt with challenges adapting from high school to collegiate races, she said.
“The toughest part of running cross country at this level is when it comes to big races with really good competition, just keeping my mind focused on what I need to do rather than what everyone else is going to do,” said Winters.
Scattergood emphasized how the team atmosphere has helped his improvement as a runner.
“My team inspires me to be a better runner,” said Scattergood.
Both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams return to action Saturday, Oct. 19 to compete at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
russap24@bonaventure.edu, webstera24@bonaventure.edu
