By P.J. Wright, news correspondent
In their final race before the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships this weekend, the Northeastern University (NU) men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Mini Meet on Friday afternoon at Stanley Quarter Park.
Both squads finished in the top 10 for the first time this season. The women’s varsity team placed sixth in the 3,000-meter run, and the men came in ninth overall in the 5,000-meter run.
Sophomore Corinne Myers led the way for the women’s team, taking home 15th place out of 113 runners with a 3K time of 10:35.6. Redshirt sophomore Sarah Adler and freshman Katie Hanlon also had strong showing, and finished in 23rd and 47th place, respectively.
On the men’s side, freshman Dan Paiva finished the 5K with a time of 15:29.6, good enough for 19th of 119 runners on the course. Freshman Scott McCluskey came in 51st, and freshman Collin Rowe came in 56th for the Huskies.
With a number of championship events coming up, Head Coach Cathrine Erickson decided to give both varsity teams some rest. The runners who competed in the New England Championships on Oct. 10 did not race on Friday. Fifteen men and 10 women raced for the Huskies in the mini meet, 14 of whom were running in their first race of the season.
The top-three finishers for both the men’s and women’s NU teams were either first or second-year runners. Youth has been the theme for Northeastern this season, but Erickson believes the young runners are dealing with the pressure maturely.
“I believe they are handling the workload very well and are starting to get more experienced as college racers,” Erickson said in an email to The News.
Nephat Maritim, a transfer student from Harvard University who is in his final season of collegiate cross country, says that although he is more experienced than the young runners, they have a huge impact on him.
“They’re a fun bunch with a ton of potential,” Maritim said in an email to The News. “While I might be someone they look up to, they also inspire me in several innumerable ways. Although many might think the age difference between my teammates and I can be a source of discomfort, it is actually a very rich experience which I have gotten quite used to.”
The Huskies’ next battle will be against their conference foes in the CAA Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., hosted by the College of Charleston
The women’s 6,000-meter run will begin at 10 a.m. and the men’s 8,000-meter run will follow at 11 a.m.
Online Results: http://www.gonu.com/documents/2015/10/23//2015_Mini_Meet_Results.pdf?id=2331
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
