Cross Country

MACKENZIE KURTZNER
Banner Correspondent

BENNINGTON -  As the Mountaineers stepped to the starting line on Saturday, it was more than just the beginning of another cross country race for Southern Vermont College. Head coach Joe Catania was hired in March of 2008 to rebuild the men's and women's programs, and he has them heading in a positive new direction.

SVC kicked off homecoming weekend with the premier of its new cross country course. Thirteen teams comprising over 100 racers competed at the Mountaineer Cross Country Invitational, with the women competing on a challenging 5K course, and the men tackling a two-loop 8K course.

SVC's top female runner, Julie Patenaude, placed 20th overall with a time of 27:43.12. "The (new) course was a lot more challenging," said Patenaude, a senior and two year captain of the Mountaineers. "But it was very exciting, and there was a lot of support." The homecoming crowd offered a great atmosphere and a tremendous amount of encouragement for all of the racers on the course.

The overall winner of the women's race - Lyndon State College's Lyndsay Calkins - also mentioned that the course was quite challenging, but said that this worked to her advantage. "I liked the course," said Calkins, a senior at LSC. "We run hills all the time." Calkins ran an impressive time of 20:46.38, completing the race almost three minutes ahead of second-place finisher Sarah Flint of Vermont Tech.

On the men's side, freshman Seth Chase was Southern Vermont's top finisher in ninth place with a time of 31:15.62. His teammate, Nick Murray, finished a minute behind Chase in 15th place. Murray said that he enjoyed the course and looks forward to racing on it again. "It's a fun course, pretty challenging," said Murray, a freshman at SVC. "But it is better than a boring, flat, ‘same pace all the time' kind of course." 

Murray described the Mountaineers' team goals as "basic and primitive," but the SVC men came away from the meet with a strong fourth-place finish in team competition. The first-place finisher for the men's 8K was Andrew Gelston, a freshman at SUNY Cobleskill. Catania said that Gelston's strategy for the race likely went a long way toward his performance. "He went out pretty conservative - he did it right," Catania said. "The ones who went out too fast didn't really factor in at the end."

The SUNY Cobleskill men's team finished in first place with a perfect score of 15 points. Catania, who also served as coordinator of the Mountaineer Invitational, was pleased with how smoothly the meet ran and the support that the parents and fans brought to the course on homecoming weekend. Not only was Southern Vermont's course reconstructed, but the cross country program is now being rebuilt and strengthened. "I was hired to rebuild the program," Catania said. "It's a good place to do it and a nice place to run." SVC Athletic Director Benjamin Kozik praised Catania for his efforts and positive attitude. "Joe has done a great job since he came in," Kozik said. "He has been recruiting really hard to get top-quality runners."

For Josh Fanion, a rugby player at Southern Vermont, this was his first cross country race. Without Fanion's participation, the Mountaineer men would have been incomplete and unable to score. "They needed somebody and asked me," said Fanion, who played in the SVC men's rugby game only a few hours later. "I like to help out the other teams."

The Mountaineers will be competing next Saturday at the Vermont State
Championships at Castleton State College in Castleton.