Oct. 29, 2002
Center Valley, Pa. The Bucknell women are looking for their fifth-consecutive Patriot League cross country title, while the Army men are trying to make it three championship wins in a row, at the 2002 Patriot League Cross Country Championships taking place at the Army Golf Course at the United States Military Academy Saturday, November 2.
The women’s race will kick off the festivities at 11 a.m., while the men’s race will commence at noon. The women’s course is a 6,000-meter trek and the men’s is 8,000-meters. The top 10 individual finishers will earn first-team All-League status, while those student-athletes finishing 11-20 will gain second-team all-star accolades.
The men’s field is wide open with the graduation of two-time champion Will Wyche of Army and five All-League performers back in the fold from last year’s championship. The host Black Knights were the pre-season pick to three-peat as champions, followed closely by Bucknell and American.
Army is led by a core of four student-athletes that finished in the top 20 at the 2001 PL Championship, including senior captain Eric Motzenbecker (Manasquan, N.J.), who posted the best finish of the group with a 14th-place outing, juniors David Frasier (West Field, Texas) and Aaron Smead (Mosca, Colo.) and sophomore Eric Heeley (Clouis, Calif.).
The Bison have a pair of senior all-stars returning, including NCAA participant Greg Costello (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Bryan Johnston (Kane, Pa.). Costello, the Patriot League Runner of the Week for September 17, was seventh a year ago and finished 127th at the NCAA Championship. Johnston, who was the October 8 PL Runner of the Week, was BU’s top finisher at the 2001 Championship with a fifth-place mark.
With two All-Leaguers returning, American looks to improve on its third-place team finish from a year ago. Juniors Frank Malpigli (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and Matt Seymour (Rockville, Md.) headline the list of Eagles in the hunt for the individual crown. Malpigli, who is a two-time League Runner of the Week, was the top AU finisher from last year with a fourth-place effort, while Seymour crossed the finish line in the sixth position. Another Eagle that may be in contention is senior Sean O’Brien (Tewksbury, Mass.), who was 12th a year ago, but also grabbed All-America honors for the 1,500-meters during the outdoor track & field season.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø and Lehigh were tied for fourth in the pre-season balloting. The Raiders have the services of sophomores Xavier de Boissezon (Geneva, Switzerland) and Louis Di Nuzzo (Loudonville, N.Y.). De Boissezon was an All-Leaguer last year with a ninth-place finish, while Di Nuzzo was tabbed co-Runner of the Week September 10 after winning the Harry Lang Invitational.
The Mountain Hawks have produced a pair of weekly award winners this season with Rob Hampson (Holland, Pa.) and Mark Swanson (Doylestown, Pa.) taking home top honors. Hampson, a freshman, shared the award with Di Nuzzo after winning at the Lehigh Valley Championships, while Swanson, a sophomore, received accolades after a silver medal finish at the Delaware Invitational. Hampson was also the September 10 ECAC Runner of the Week recipient for his efforts at the Lehigh Valley Championship.
On the women’s side, three-time Patriot League individual title holder Becki Marshall graduated from Bucknell last spring, leaving a vacancy atop the podium. Who will fill that slot is anybody’s guess, but the Bison, American and Lafayette all have strong contenders. In the pre-season poll, the voters predicted that Bucknell would win the team title, but did not count out Army or the AU Eagles.
Bucknell will look to Theresa Dennis (Wilkes Barre, Pa.) to lead the Bison charge. The senior, who was the PL Runner of the Week October 8, is BU’s top returning finisher with a third-place outing in 2001. She also received an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship via a 10th-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Junior Alexis Seefeldt (Mifflinsburg, Pa.) and freshman Ashley Urick (Carmel, Ind.) are the top competitors for the host Black Knights. Seefeldt garnered All-League status at the 2001 Championship after crossing the finish line in the ninth spot. Urick has quickly established herself as one of Army’s top runners, pacing the Black Knights in all four meets this season with a pair of gold medal finishes and a 13th-place effort at the Indiana State Invitational.
American has a League-best two all-stars returning in senior Samia Akbar (Herndon, Va.) and junior Jen Baclawski (Ikamsville, Md.). Akbar has had her best cross country season since coming to AU. The senior, who has won two races this season, has won the Patriot League Runner of the Week award three times and has taken home the ECAC Runner of the Week award twice. Baclawski has placed in the top 10 in all three meets she has ran in this fall.
Lehigh will look for a solid performance from junior Chrissy Boyd (Media, Pa.), who was the PL Runner of the Week September 24 after a second-place outing at the Delaware Invitational. As a team, the Mountain Hawks were victorious at the Delaware Invitational and came home in second spot at the Lehigh Valley Championship.
Holy Cross has had a mixture of top runners this season with sophomore Elizabeth Desmond (Portland, Maine), junior Julie Gillis (Cornwall, N.Y.) and freshman Brittany Chapman (Haddonfield, N.J.) all leading the Crusader pack across the finish line at some point this season. Desmond has been the most consistent HC runner, leading the team in three races.
Lafayette’s Rian Landers (Spring Lake, N.J.) should improve on her 13th-place finish at the 2001 Championship. The senior was the League’s Runner of the Week September 10 after victories at the Lehigh Valley Championships and the Army Invitational. Landers has stood atop the podium in four races this fall.