Mountaineer Headlines

BENNINGTON, Vt. - The term "Homecoming" usually evokes images of football players, cheerleaders and marching bands. But at Southern Vermont College, the traditional focus on a single gridiron clash is replaced with a wider spotlight on several Mountaineer sports programs.

"Homecoming is a little different here," SVC athletic director Chris Cruz said on Thursday, as her department prepared for the upcoming weekend of festivities. "I like that it's about all of the sports, and not just one. I'm excited for Saturday."

The competitive portion of SVC Homecoming will officially get underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday, when the starting gun goes off on the women's 5K race at the annual Mountaineer Invitational cross-country meet. SVC head coach Joe Catania was out lining the course on Thursday, as members of his teams shuffled by on a practice run along the sloping hills with their majestic views beyond.

"This is a really good spectator course," Catania said. "In 90 percent of the cross-country courses in New England, you see the runners at the start and you don't see them again until the finish, because they're in the woods the whole time. Here, you can watch them all along the course."

There should be lots to watch with this year's Mountaineers, who are led on the women's side by freshman Maggie Kuntz - a talented harrier who has already been recognized with awards from the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC).

"Maggie has a lot of natural ability," Catania said. "She's able to train with some of our guys, and that helps to push her."

Another runner to watch among the SVC women is Brittany Stark, a sophomore from Lyndon Center who had reconstructive knee surgery last December but is working her way back into form.

"Brittany doesn't quite have the strength she had before the surgery, but she's getting it back," Catania said. "She's getting her confidence back, too."

The SVC men's cross-country team - which will see its 8K race on Saturday begin at 10:45 a.m. - has been led thus far by sophomore Matt Schwab, who took last year off from competing in order to focus on his studies.

"He got a 4.0 (grade point average), so I guess that worked," Catania said with a laugh. 

The Homecoming events continue at 1 p.m., when the SVC women's soccer team hosts Newbury College at Everett Field. The Mountaineers have struggled a bit with their consistency thus far this season, but head coach Shawn Holcombe is hoping that they can turn things around beginning on Saturday.

"This game will either be a wake-up call or a stepping stone," Holcombe said. "It will show us that we've still got work to do, or we're ready to move on to the next step."

That step - for a team that returned only five players from last season and counts nine freshmen and five sophomores among its 17 rostered players - is recognizing that victory often begins in the mind, before the team even takes the pitch.

"A young team has to learn how to win," Holcombe said. "A lot of these kids have been playing soccer for most of their lives, but it's a different ballgame in college. The learning curve starts all over again."

Even so, there are signs that the Mountaineer women are moving in the right direction. Through its first five games last season, SVC was outscored 41-1; this year, that combined score has been whittled down to 18-2.

"Defensively, we're a much more solid team," Holcombe said. "We just need to get over the fact that we're young. It's still the same game: 11 [versus] 11, a Size-5 ball, an 8-by-24-foot goal. Nothing's changed except the level of competition."

SVC may not have a football team, but its marquee Homecoming attraction will take the field at 3 p.m., also against Newbury College. The Mountaineer men's soccer team has now won five straight games - its longest winning streak since 1990 - and has racked up a combined score of 21-3 during that span.

Head coach Tim Penrod acknowledges that such success could easily go to a team's head, but maintains that his players are keeping their focus sharp even as the wins pile up.

"They realize that they are a part of [the program's] history at this point, but they also know that we can still play better," Penrod said. "They haven't gotten complacent - they keep working hard, every day, to get better."

A good thing, because a homecoming showdown is certainly no time to rest on your laurels. Penrod is well aware from his playing days at Juniata College that a visiting team like the Nighthawks has very little to lose in a Homecoming game, but a whole lot to gain by raining on the hosts' parade.

"They know it's our Homecoming, so why not come in and spoil it?" Penrod said. "I've been part of teams that got to play spoiler on Homecomings and Seniors Days, and I've had them spoiled myself. But our guys know what it's going to take for us to win on Saturday, especially because it's a conference game.

"I don't need to find a way to motivate them - they have that already."

The SVC women's volleyball team will be in action on Saturday, though its 11 a.m. match against Framingham State will take place on the road. The Mountaineer men's rugby team will also play an away match this weekend, on Sunday.

A unique opportunity will also present itself on Saturday for fans and fellow athletes to purchase uniforms and equipment during the SVC softball team's special Homecoming tag sale. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., new head coach Twink Williams and her crew will be selling surplus apparel and gear in a tent on campus, in order to "make some space" and raise funds for the team.