By Nate Owen
The Northeastern men’s and women’s cross country teams may not have finished first at the New England Championship at Franklin park last weekend but it was a successful weekend with four men setting personal bests.
The women placed 28th of 46 teams, with 717 points. The men’s team placed 31st among the 45 teams competing, finishing with 875 points.
Once again the women were paced by junior Kristie Gagnon. Gagnon, fresh off Colonial Athletic Association runner of the week honors in the team’s last meet, finished 34th with a time of 18:31. Sophomore Brittany Moriarty was the next Husky to finish with a time of 18:56, placed 56th. Rounding out the top three for the Huskies was senior Amy Hicks, who finished 105th with a time of 19:18.
Another familiar face paced the men’s team, as junior Tom Brown finished with a personal best time of 26 minutes, good for 99th overall. Each of the top four Husky runners set personal records in the meet. Sophomore Ricky Fendorak finished 169th with a time of 26:43. Freshman Josh Boss and sophomore Brian Kennedy rounded out the top four, finishing 178th and 195th with times of 26:49 and 26:59, respectively.
Despite the overall finish of the teams, the personal records set by the men’s runners were encouraging to coach Sherman Hart.
“Both Kristie and Tom really ran well. The entire men’s team had personal bests, which is something we’re looking for,” Hart said. “[On the women’s side] getting three in the top hundred is good. Our top three is solid. I wouldn’t be surprised if one them [Moriarty or Hicks] caught Kristie.”
Hart said Hicks is making tremendous progress and is “coming on like gangbusters.”
“I’m fairly pleased with our progress, [but we are] on a mission to prove we are better than our seventh-place ranking in the conference,” Hart said.
Northeastern will be competing next week at the Delaware Invitational. This meet will be key for the Huskies, as they will be competing against several conference foes, Hart said. His team has also begun to prepare for the CAA Championship, which will be held back at Franklin Park Oct. 27.
