Northeastern’s men’s and women’s runners shared collective glory in last weekend’s Fairfield Invitational, while the men’s team showed their coaches drastic improvements from the Quinipiac Invitational two weeks ago.
Head coach Sherman Hart thought the men’s effort was lacking in Quinipiac. However, after that race there was an entirely different mood in the coaches office.
“This was the first meet that the guys really raced and not just ran. They were really competitive,” said assistant coach Richard Hart. “At the mile we were in great shape, at the 3 mile we were buried, but they came back the last couple miles and finished off strong.”
Jon Litchfield led the men’s effort with a third place finish and a time of 28:15.
“It was definitely my best race of the season. I wasn’t concerned with time as much as place this week and although my time wasn’t great, it was my best race of the year. The course was rough, they had just set it up that week and I’m not entirely sure it was exactly five miles,” Litchfield said. “A lot of guys had their best race of the season. Jim Richard in particular. Coach has been telling us all year to run against the competition, not the clock and this was the first week I thought we did that well.”
“I think with the smaller field they were able to focus a little more on the race, it was a very difficult hilly course, but I think that because they were more towards the front it really helped,” Richard Hart said. “When you’re racing the time passes quicker. But when you’re out running, the mind tends to wander and get bogged down with how far you are away. But when you’re racing everything happens faster, all the sudden there’s a quarter mile to go and they could just go after it.”
Sherman Hart was pleased with the way his men responded after last week’s practices.
“I know Rich challenged them all week, and the article you ran challenged them as well, but that’s what it was supposed to do. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to challenge them and get them to step up to the plate. It was like saying ‘The whole world knows you aren’t stepping up to the plate,’ and they responded.”
James Richard and Jared Paul followed Litchfield’s performance in the Fairfield Invitational with 5th and 7th place finishes, running times of 28:32 and 28:36, respectively. Freshman Terry Dougherty and sophomore Steve Carlson rounded out the Husky scoring with 19th and 21st place finishes respectively.
The women’s team won their second straight meet, improving their record to 2-1 on the year behind quality running from the entire team.
“The women went in with a different mentality as being the favorite,” Richard Hart said. “They weren’t used to the role but did a good job keeping it.”
Sherman Hart added to his assistant’s sentiment.
“That takes a lot. It’s not easy to get to the top, but once you’re there, it’s even harder to keep it. To be able to keep that balance and run the way they did showed a lot of heart.”
“I thought our most impressive performance as far as the women were concerned was by Lindsay Harris,” Richard Hart said. “She was our fifth scorer, and it was only the second race she’s ever ran in her entire life. She never ran in high school.”
Harris showed her inexperience last week at the Quinipiac Invitational, reacting awkwardly to the starting signal.
“Lindsay turned to us on the sidelines and was very surprised to see that the starter had a gun,” Sherman Hart said. “We had to explain to her that that’s how they start the races. She’s a great kid, and doing very well for herself. It just goes to show how young our runners are.”
All five women’s scorers placed within the top 13 runners in the meet, with Harris being the final one. The team was lead by senior Meaghan Shaw’s 4th place finish at 19:34. She was followed closely by standout sophomore Amber Cullen in 6th place with a time of 19:45. In the middle of the women’s scoring sandwich were Amy Hicks and Emily Watson who finished in the 9th and 11th spots, respectively.
