By Jeff Bashara
Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country Head Coach Sherman Hart was encouraged with his team’s season-opening performance Sept. 4 in the Central Connecticut State Invitational, with the men taking sixth and the women taking runner-up.
“I was expecting worse,” Hart explained. “We’ve only been working out for two weeks and aren’t in full competition shape yet.”
The Huskies were also without a number of their athletes on both sides due to injuries, including Adam Zeisel and Jared Paul, the men’s team captains, and Amber Cullen, who enters this year for the Huskies as the top female runner. With all that considered Coach Hart felt both teams did extraordinarily well.
“We’ll be looking to keep momentum going and keep building,” Hart said.
Top Finishers for the Husky men were freshman Tom Brown (20th), junior Will Davidian (33rd), and freshman Seth Housman (37th). The women were paced by junior captain Amy Hicks (4th), junior Stephanie Morrison (8th), and freshman Laura McCloskey (14th).
The men’s team may be young, but with the help of some prized recruits, they should come together this year.
“Without question this is the best recruiting class we’ve had in some time,” Hart said.
The highly touted class includes top finishers from last week Tom Brown and Seth Housman. Of course, this does not mean the veterans will not be a force this year for the Huskies, as they expect strong contributions from their older members, like captains Paul and Zeisel. The new members should mesh together and build a strong core for the future.
For the women, that future is now. The battle tested core of Amber Cullen, Stephanie Morrison and captains Amy Hicks and Emily Watson enter their third year together, and their experience should be an advantage this season. For the future, the Huskies expect big things from freshman Laura McCloskey, who had a strong showing in her debut.
Coach Hart has some pretty lofty goals set for both teams this season.
“We’ve had some success in both indoor and outdoor track seasons and won both titles in the past,” Hart said. “This year we’re looking to get the trifecta.”
That would mean a vast improvement for a cross-country team that finished next-to-last in the America East Conference last year.
But if anyone can do it, it is a team coached by Sherman Hart. Hart has steered the NU women to 13 indoor and outdoor America East Conference titles, winning both in 1996 and 1998, and the men to 5 AE titles, winning both in 2001 and 2002. Despite his success with his other squads, Hart has yet to take home the cross-country crown.
In past years, Northeastern cross-country has been held in less regard to indoor and outdoor track, and might have even been viewed as a warm-up or pre-cursor to its more competitive counterparts by the student body. Not this year.
“We’re going on the attack,” said Hart.
University of New Hampshire and cross-town rival BUenter the season as the teams to beat in the AE but NU is expected to make a run at the title as well.
Coach Hart attributes the heightened expectations to the teams recruiting, the hiring of new distance coach Scott Wisnaskas, and an increased budget from Athletic Director Dave O’Brien.
The quest for the trifecta continues this Friday with the Boston University Open at Franklin Park at 2 p.m.
