Both Massachusetts men’s and women’s cross country teams will be traveling to Bethlehem, PA. on Friday to compete in the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University.
The young Minutemen squad features five sophomores and six freshmen who will look to their senior leadership to guide them through the highly competitive field that will be at the invite.
“Each step our team takes, the leadership becomes very important,” said UMass coach Ken O’Brien. “For some of the younger members of the team, it’s the first time over night, long way from home and a big race.”
The Minutemen face tough competition in the Gold Race, lining up against No. 4 Oklahoma, the top-ranked team among competing nationally-ranked squads. Other ranked schools include No. 12 Princeton, No. 15 Syracuse, No. 18 Villanova and No. 19 Virginia.
Having not competed in cross country during his senior year, Sean Duncan, who returns as a graduate student, will be looking to build off his successful junior year.
“[Sean’s] lost time is basically a whole calendar year ago, and has been competing since his return,” said O’Brien. “He’s not out of conditioning.”
Joining Duncan in the UMass top seven will be senior Patrick McAllister, and junior John O’Shea as the experienced hands. O’Brien will be looking upon them to lead the younger portion of the Minutemen squad which includes five sophomores and five freshmen.
On the other side of the meet, the Minutewomen are also assigned to the Gold division along with the top ranked Georgetown team, along with No. 3 Providence, No. 5 Villanova and No. 9 Duke.
Following a fourth place finish in the Minuteman Invititational which featured five teams, the Minutewomen will be looking to improve in the larger meets as the season progresses.
The women’s team has much more experience than the men, boasting seven upperclassmen. .
While the UMass women find themselves in a more versatile position, thanks to the larger size of their squad, the team will still be looking upon Roa, fellow senior Colleen Wetherbee and juniors Danielle McNiff and Caprice Cappucci to lead the 13 underclassmen
For both the men and women, the Paul Short Invitational represents a good opportunity for the younger runners to gain experience and compete against some of the best in the nation..
“The first meet is their first college race,” said O’Brien. “And the second was the first one at home. Now this third meet is the first time traveling the road. Each experience is new. It’s not easy to be prepared mentally, but once you get it, you’re good.”
Out of 42 teams at last year’s Paul Short Invitational, the men finished 30th while the women finished 31st.
Jeffrey Okerman can reached at [email protected].
