BENNINGTON, Vt. – To say that the 2013 Southern Vermont College men’s and women’s cross country seasons were a success would be a drastic understatement. Under the direction of first-year head coach Kathleen Newton, the Mountaineers saw a slew of personal-best times, conference awards and even school records.
Newton sat in her office on a November afternoon, taking sips of coffee while jostling between decompressing after the season’s final competition and continuing to recruit for future squads. She reflected back on the 2013 campaign, commenting that, “The team really came together well over the season. They took things very seriously this fall.” She continued by saying, “I think they were a little intimidated by my philosophy at first, but once they got used to it, they were fully committed and we all saw that hard work pay off. They realized that I wanted them to be successful not only as athletes but, more importantly, as people.”
What is Coach Newton’s philosophy you ask? It’s rather simple: practice, train, and prepare each and every day to the best of your ability, doing what’s necessary to better yourself, and get ready for that weekend’s race, both physically and mentally. The Mountaineers from both sides bought in, and in return, they were awarded with personal and school records with some harriers making tremendous improvements between August’s preseason and the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship in late October. “Doing these things gives you confidence to push yourself a little extra,” said Newton.
The men’s side defended its 2012 NECC Runner-up title in 2013 and also made its way to a solid showing at the NCAA Regional Championship. The Mountaineers were led for most of the season by junior Herson Canta (Eagle Rock, Calif.) whose best career time came at the end of this September at the Vermont State Championship. He finished with a time of 27:52, good enough for fourth in the all-time SVC record book and a ninth-place finish at the meet. Freshman Corey Barcomb (Burlington, Vt.) adjusted well from high school to the longer courses at the collegiate level, taking four and a half minutes off his time between the first 8K of the year and the NCAA Regional; he finished the year with a 28:52 showing at the NCAA meet, placing him at eighth on the SVC all-time top ten list.
“It seemed to be a general consensus around the teams that they were less burnt out at the end of this year as compared to previous seasons, and they were all still excited for competition late in the fall,” noted Newton.
Sophomore Cameron Curtiss (Milton, Vt.) also trimmed time off his personal best, running over one and a half minutes faster at the end of the year than at the beginning; he also has brought his times down by 12 minutes since he began running competitively as a freshman a year ago. Junior Hesbon Ogeka (Windom, Minn.) shaved 2:30 off his previous best time while sophomore Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) took off about a minute; Ogeka ran a 29:08 at the NCAA’s, putting him in at 10th on the SVC record list. Sophomore captain Victor Velazquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) also beat his personal best, running a 28:56 at the Vt. State Championship; he is now ninth on the SVC all-time top ten. Sophomore Mikey McCullough (Southborough, Mass.), who was struck with an early-season injury, came back late in the season to help push his team and take over two minutes off his 8K time.
The women’s squad was comprised of a fairly young team in relation to collegiate experience, yet still saw development from the top to bottom while battling injuries. Freshman Schyler McGuire (Mechanicville, N.Y.) led the group each week with her best time coming on her home course at the Saratoga Invitational in September; she finished in 20:37, second-best for an SVC runner on a 5K course and only 30 seconds behind the school record owned by Coach Newton. She and sophomore captain Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) worked hard all year, eventually traveling to Southern Maine for the NCAA Regional 6K, a race at which they both set record times. McGuire landed behind Newton once again with a 25:09 showing while Omasta took almost a minute off her 2012 Regional time, finishing at 25:58.
A solid constant for the team was senior Sara Burds (Williston, Vt.) who finished her career at the NECC Championship, running a personal-best of 31:01, almost six minutes faster than her pace at the beginning of the season. Sophomore rookie Ashley Perrino (Rotterdam, N.Y.) picked up the sport rather well, trimming seven minutes off her time between the start and finish of the year, and freshman Mallory Cano-Scribner (East Montpelier, Vt.) was able to stick with the team through rehab, coming off injury to race at the Western New England University Golden Bear Invitational in mid-October, setting a personal best for herself there. Freshman Abby Beaucage (Starksboro, Vt.) also came into her own, trimming minutes off her time through hard work with the more seasoned runners.
The Mountaineer achievements on the course were recognized in droves off of it, including the men’s team being honored with the NECC Team Sportsmanship Award following the conference championship. Canta garnered the NECC Runner of the Week title four times, Omasta grabbed the women’s Runner of the Week nod twice, and McGuire was selected as the conference Rookie of the Week once. McGuire and Omasta also ran their ways to an All-NECC First and Second Team placement, respectively, while Velazquez made it on to the All-NECC Second Team for the second consecutive year.
In addition to all of those, there were the team awards given out at the year-end banquet held at the Publyk House in Bennington, an opportunity for the two teams to enjoy a nice dinner together in celebration of all the successes had during the year. Newton handed out shirts awarding the Most Improved Runners (Canta and Burds), Rookies of the Year (Barcomb and McGuire), and the Sportsmanship/Coach’s Award for being “the glue that held the team together” (Curtiss). Velazquez and Omasta also received captains jackets noting their leadership throughout the season.
“Everything is a learning process,” said Newton, looking back on her first season as a collegiate head coach. “This was another for me. Everything has its ups and downs, and this season was no different. These runners rose above my expectations for the season, and I can see them continuing to do so in future.”