Fitchburg Open 9/7/07

WOMEN:  
Eastern Connecticut 39
Worcester State 41
Fitchburg 42

Women’s Cross Country opened their 2007 campaign at the Fitchburg Open hosted by Fitchburg State College. The women’s squad posted an impressive second place finish in the three teem meet. Worcester State finished behind Eastern Connecticut by 2 points, and 1 point ahead of Fitchburg State. The team was lead by sophomore Kara Antrim who finished in second place overall just behind the winner of the race, Eastern Connecticut’s Karina Johnson. Worcester State’s second finisher was sophomore Adrienne Fisher who placed 7^th.  Rounding out the Lancer runners were freshman Angela Roux (9^th), Rachel Sullivan (10^th) and junior Jillian Parzych (13^th). Senior Sally Geary also contributed by placing (14^th) which was instrumental in pushing the Lancers into the second spot in the meet scoring.  The team looks forward to improving as they move onto their next meet on 9/15/07 at UMass Dartmouth.

MEN:
Worcester State 29
Fitchburg State 37
Eastern Connecticut 63
Anna Maria  120

The Worcester State men’s cross country team opened their 2007 season with an impressive victory at the Fitchburg Open.  The Lancers outran host Fitchburg State, Eastern Connecticut University, and Anna Maria for the win with 29 points.

Worcester State placed three in the top five including overall winner Forest Wilber who covered the 4.8 mi course in 24:52.  Junior Rob Lind was second overall while junior Chris Mancuso finished fifth improving his time from last year on the course  by 2:20.  Sophomore Adam Malek, last year’s MASCAC Rookie of the Year had also been running among the top five through about half the race before having to drop out.  Picking up the gap were junior Andrew Rossi who ran 1:45 faster than last year on this course for a 7^th place finish overall giving the Lancers four in the top seven. Rounding out the top five, was senior Justin Snair(14^th), who ran his first collegiate race in almost two years after sitting out the 2006 season and a portion of the 2005 campaign. The first freshman for the squad was Stephen Gemme finishing in 18^th place in 29:14. Much is expected from this rookie as he gains experience at five miles and gets more base training and speedwork under his belt. Another freshman needing the same experience this season and adjusting to the 5 mile distance was Ben Drake,  who finished 23^rd to complete the top seven.  Andrew O’Brien, who returns to Worcester State after taking last year away from school, was 25^th overall as he too, builds on his training to help contribute as the season progresses. Others who had a good outing for their first race of the season include freshman Robert Stahelski in 26^th place, sophomore Norman Everett, who improved 2:10 from the previous year on Fitchburg’s tough course and Derrick Willand, who returned after time for rehab work. Sophomore Joe Bourdelais and freshman Adam Boudreau completed the contingent of Lancer runners this day and look forward to more improvement with

Hard work and more experience this season. It was an exciting first outing for this group of Lancer harriers.  Expectations are high for team that showed plenty of clout up front and some solid depth in the ranks.  It is a formula for success this season.