Over the past two months, the Massachusetts men’s and women’s cross country teams have both shown large improvement for such young teams. Both teams will be showing just how far they have come this Saturday when they go to the Atlantic 10 Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. Last year, the men took third, while the women took fourth. Regardless of both teams being young, it’s obvious they have both worked hard to improve for this meet.

The Minutemen started off the season by placing last out of four teams at a meet held at UNH. They then pushed their way up into a second place finish out of three teams at their only home meet of the season. In their first big meet of the season, the 2002 Brother Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions in The Bronx, N.Y., the men managed to finish 21st out of 26 teams.

The young men’s team would easily shake off this low placed finish, as it placed 14th out of 46 teams at the New England Meet of Champions in Boston’s Franklin Park. The following meet provided grounds for an even better placing, as the men took fifth place out of 22 teams at their first run at the 36th Annual Albany Invitational.

Now, the goal is set to take the team to the next level as it heads to Pittsburgh for the A-10 Championships. Regardless of having a young team, Coach Ken O’Brien believes his boys will be ready.

“Colin Baughman, Dave Hantman and Ed Breen are the guys who have really led this team,” O’Brien said. “They have greatly improved for this year. I would also say that, for the younger guys, John Jacobson, Andy McCarron, and Mike Ahearn will be big this Saturday as well.

“The teams we need to get by are LaSalle, first last year and predicted to take first again, Saint Joe’s, who took second last year and are also predicted to repeat and we edged out Duquesne for third place,” he continued. “If we’re going to take second or first, we’re going to have to do it in the middle.”

On the other side, the Minutewomen have been struggling for higher placement as they have a younger team than the men. The women started out the year much like the men, by taking fourth at the UNH meet. At their only home meet of the season, the women were forced yet again into last place. The Meet of Champions would show slight improvement, as the Minutewomen were able to reach 20th place out of 25 teams.

Then, at the New England Championships, the Maroon and White would show its strength as it pushed ahead to a 26th place finish out of 42. The women were able to go on to the Albany Invitational and take 11th place out of 19 teams.

Regardless of previous results, Head Coach Julie Lafreniere is hoping for her girls to show everyone what they’re made of.

“This was a tough year for us,” Lafreniere said. “I’m looking for the top five runners, who include senior captain Julie McGee, Tricia Silva, Alexis Anzelone, Emma Horton and Katie Knowles, to give us their best races. I also expect Kate Markopoulos to be an asset as well, but we really need the whole team to put out its best race and best effort.

“Last year’s placing of fourth place was the worst in the team’s history. Hopefully, the girls will be able to ignore the fact that they are inexperienced and give it their all.”

The annual Championship is set to take place in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 2.