Jeff Nowak
The women’s Cross Country was recently ranked 25 in the national poll, an achievement which head coach Chris Covert said is the first ever for the team.
“It’s a big deal to the girls, they’re really excited about it, it shows all the hard work they’ve put in,” said Covert. “What matters is the end of the year, if they focus on training and get ready for the end I think we have a good chance to make it.”
The team, also ranked second in the region, is going to have to replace Laura Brustolon who Covert said holds the school record in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs, and was named the 2009 Northeast-10 women’s athlete of the year.
“You try to recruit hard all year every year,” said Covert. “I think we have girls who are as good if not better.”
One member of the team who is going to take on the challenge is this year’s captain sophomore Kelsey Proctor. As the conference champion in the steeplechase, Proctor is going to join fellow runners Alasia Griebel, Jaclyn Sullivan, Charlene Boria along with several others who look to contribute in improving on what Covert said was the team’s best ever result in 2009.
Covert said the team’s first meet of the season where the top runners will compete is the Connecticut
State University Invitational on Sept. 11 in New Britain; a meet Brustolon won and set a course record at in 2009.
“This group has really trained hard over the summer, and they want to write their own book,” said Covert. “It’s hard to top a year that’s your best year, I think we have the talent to do it, and I think we have a chance to keep on getting better. The next step for us would be to advance to a national championship.”