Men's cross country team places second in GNAC championship

By Matthew Anderson
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Norwich men's cross-country team takes first runner-up this season in the GNAC and is sending seven runners to the NCAA New England Regional Qualifying, where they could advance on to the Nationals.

Ryan Jones, 18, a freshman rook majoring in peace, war, and diplomacy from Methuen, Mass., said, "It's disappointing we were runners-up, since we were picked to win, but we ran well as a team; that's all that matters."

The NCAA New England Regional Qualifying is November 16th at Westfield State.

A men's cross-country team runs a five-mile course for their competitions. It takes a lot of training to prepare someone to run five miles.

"I ran a lot at home, but Mass. doesn't have hills like we have around here," Jones said.

Everyone on the team was excited about moving on to the New England's. Pat Lynch, 18, a freshman rook majoring in criminal justice from Long Island, NY, said, "I didn't make it to the New England's, but I am improving and getting ready for next season."

Strong freshman runners like Ryan Jones are important for an athletic team, but a team is nothing without strong upperclass representation. "One of our captains, Jerry Leger, provides motivation and leadership which is important to the team," Jones said.

Jones said that he is a strong runner but also said, "Dana Dexter and Nick Bishop run insane times, and they blow me out of the water, but that's why our team advanced to the New England's."

One of the captains of the cadets placed second overall in the GNAC out of 100 runners after running a smoking 26-minute five miles.

"People think we're crazy, because we'll go out and run fifteen miles in the snow just to relax," said Jones.

"I just hope the whole team goes out and does well in the NCAA New England Qualifying and maybe move on to the Nationals," said Jones.

It takes a lot to get to the Nationals but a lot of hard work and a lot of miles," said Jones. The possibilities of Nationals are there but are pretty far for the Cadets.

"We have a pretty tough time going to the Nationals. We go down to the NCAA New England's to give the freshmen the experience of running in a big race," said Dana Dexter, 21, a senior criminal justice major from Woburn, Mass.

Dana Dexter finished second overall in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's cross country championships to lead the Cadets team to a second place finish on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Rivier College. Dexter completed the eight-kilo meter course in 26:57, just six seconds behind winner Tom Michaud of Western New England College.

Norwich's Nick Bishop from Webster, NY, was seventh, and Mitchell Snow from West Point, UT, finished eighth, as the Cadets were unable to defend their title from last season.

The Norwich women finished third, led by Felicia Hersey's eighth-place finish. She completed the five-kilometer course in 21:07.

Norwich will be idle next weekend, before competing in the NCAA Qualifier at Westfield State College on Nov. 16.

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