FITCHBURG, Mass. – To wrap up the non-traditional Southern Vermont College spring track season, three members of the men’s cross country team traveled back to Fitchburg State University to compete at the Eric Loeschner Meet this past Saturday.

The Mountaineers’ day began with sophomore Victor Velazquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) and freshman Cameron Curtiss (Milton, Vt.) competing in the 1500 meter race with both hitting their best times of the spring. Velazquez ran in the second heat, finishing fifth for 17^th overall in the 42-man field. He broke his personal best by six seconds, only 12 ticks out of the top 10 finishers (4:25.13). Curtiss then finished in 10^th place during the third heat, also beating his personal best by six seconds and breaking a five-minute time for the first time this season (4:58.76).

Freshman Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) then participated in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 54.9 seconds which was good enough for fifth in the third heat. Poteat followed with a sixth-place showing in the fourth heat of the 800 meter run with a 2:23. Curtiss wasn’t far behind, finishing 13^th with a time of 2:30. Poteat’s second lap was an astounding 15 seconds faster than the first.

Poteat went right back to the track less than an hour later with the 200 meter dash, despite starting to feel the wear of his first two events. Needing to run into a head wind, he finished just four tenths of a second slower than his time at the Mt. Holyoke Meet (25.07). “Kenny is a tough kid,” said head coach Maria Stuber. “He will do as many events on the track as you will let him.”

The Southern Vermont day finished with the 5000 meter race with Velazquez being the sole Mountaineer in the event. He ran an impressive race, finishing in 17:01, a full 26 seconds faster than his previous best. “He ran a perfect race,” remarked Stuber, “and I hope he doesn’t have any regrets.” Velazquez finished 10^th in the race with split times of 5:35, 5:34, and 5:11. Stuber noted that she knew it was going to be a good result when, standing at the 400 meter mark to alert him of his split time, she was the only coach saying “perfect!” to her respective participant.

“The end of our season is tasting pretty bitter sweet,” continued Stuber. “We had an outstanding year and have seen some huge improvements.  It is good to end the season on a high note, but it's also hard to put the spikes away when things are going so well.”