BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont men's and women's cross country teams are wrapping up their preseason activities and training sessions in preparation for this weekend's season-opening meet at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

                Second-year coach Maria Stuber has been pushing her harriers in order to exceed expectations.  The men's side was chosen to finish third in the New England Collegiate Conference's preseason poll (tied with Daniel Webster), and the women's squad was chosen to finish sixth.  Lesley University was selected to finish first in both the men's and women's standings in the poll voted on by conference coaches.

                While the Mountaineers have Mount Anthony to run about, Stuber wanted to use the preseason to expose her runners to new ground and enjoy a couple different views in the area.  Last Thursday, the men and women traveled to the Somerset Reservoir off Rt. 9 headed towards Wilmington, Vt.  The teams were able to run through some spectacular scenery and cool off at the reservoir afterwards.  "We are very lucky to have some of the most beautiful places in New England to run," said Stuber.  "The Somerset Reservoir road is a runner's heaven with nine miles of relatively flat dirt road alongside a gorgeous river.  Then, the run ends at a beautiful lake with views of some of the big Southern Vermont alpine areas like Mount Snow and Bromley.  There is nowhere in the world like it." 

                This past Sunday, the group went to Mount Greylock just south of campus in northwestern Massachusetts' Berkshire mountain range.  "It's the biggest mountain in Massachusetts and it's covered with outstanding trails and all kinds of terrain," noted Coach Stuber.  "This time we took a relatively easy route to the top.  Next time, I will make it a little harder on them.  The hills force us to be more efficient and give us a chance to build leg strength."

                Those trips were conjoined with morning runs around Bennington and afternoon training sessions.  During their nine days of preseason, the teams did seven distance runs, four strength workouts and three hard interval workouts.  The men totaled about 60 miles, while the women ran an estimated 50 during the last week and a half.  

                The teams feature a few returning runners, but are primarily comprised of new faces.  Freshman Kenneth Poteat said of the preseason training, "It was great.  It was a big enough jump to feel a change in my performance, but not too big of a jump.  Some of the workouts took a new level of heart and willpower for me." 

Stuber's crews are ready for a season in which they will run five meets before the NECC Championship in late October, directly preceding the NCAA Regional event at Westfield State University on November 12.  "If we can stay healthy, we're really going to surprise people," stated Stuber.  "It's a small group, but a great group of young men and women.  Our potential became very apparent during all the outstanding workouts we accomplished in preseason."

 

Click to view a photo gallery of the cross country teams' preseason