BENNINGTON, Vt. – The New England Collegiate Conference announced today the results of the preseason poll conducted for the 2012 cross country season. The SVC men's and women's teams were selected to finish third and sixth, respectively, among the conference competitors. The polls, voted on by conference coaches, see Lesley University finishing first on both the men's and women's sides. SVC's men's team was selected third in a tie with Daniel Webster. Second-year coach Maria Stuber said of the teams, "I think it's going to be a good year for us. We have a solid group of returning runners that I have gotten the chance to work with for an entire year."
The women's team will be returning four runners, including lone-senior and captain Loni Masiero (Walkill, N.Y.). "I'm super excited to see what this summer training has done for her," said Coach Stuber. "I think she's going to turn heads at Conference and hopefully she'll be able to lead the rest of the group in that direction." In 2011, Masiero had a season-best fourth-place finish (24:46) at the 3 Stallion Inn-Vitational in Randolph, Vt., crossing the line just 34 seconds behind the winner. She also cracked the SVC All-Time 6K Top Five list with a 29:18 run at the NCAA Regional at Bowdoin College in Maine.
On the men's side, Stuber will have six new runners join her returning three sophomores after only losing two runners from a year ago. Victor Velasquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) will lead the team as its captain. "Victor's going to be fun to watch this year," commented Stuber. "It sounds like, from talking to him, every single week he's been improving and we're going to have a great time seeing what he can do this year with a healthy body." It was discovered late in the season last year that he had been participating with an iron deficiency. His best finish in 2011 was sixth at the Daniel Webster College Invitational with a time of 32:42.
When asked about goals, Stuber said, "We're looking to move up the conference results and catch people's attention at the NECC Championship, but moreover I'm looking for everyone to get faster week-to-week." Despite the program's direction of growth, Stuber still faces the issue of having a limited roster. "Our biggest challenge is keeping everybody healthy so they can compete for us every week."
The Mountaineers start their competition September 8 at the Smith College Invitational in Northampton, Mass. "The Smith College Invite right at the beginning of the year is going to have some conference teams at it, so that will be a big one for us as we'll be able to see how we stack up against the conference opponents off the bat." They will host the Mountaineer Invitational during Homecoming on September 22.
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| 2012 NECC Women's Cross Country Poll (NECC Release) 1. Lesley - (8) |
2012 NECC Men's Cross Country Poll (NECC Release) 1. Lesley - (7) |