Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: SAMUEL WEILERT; STAFF WRITER
On Oct. 18, the St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s cross country teams had their best showings of the season, with a combined 24 personal bests being achieved in the team’s last meet before the Atlantic 10 Championships Meet on Nov. 1.
Senior runner Clay Peets saw the meet as a major success. “For the team, it feels awesome since we’re trying to peak here two weeks before the A-10s, to actually execute and do that as a team was awesome,” said Peets.
Peets ran a school record 23:56.8 8k race, his fourth straight meet this year in which he surpassed a school record.
When asked how he was able to achieve this impressive feat, he said, “You start all the way back in June and you keep everything you learned and accumulated throughout your career in the back of your head, you really hit training hard in July and August and continue to build throughout the season.”
Junior runner William McCarthy expressed how impressive this meet truly was for the team.
“It was a truly historical day, we haven’t had a day that good ever really,” he said. “Our top 7 were all under 26 minutes in the 8k when I don’t think we’ve really ever put more than 3 under in a race previously.”
The women’s team’s fastest runner this season has been freshman Jillian Lozo. She became the first women’s runner this season to surpass the 23-minute mark in the 6k with a time of 22:31.6.
“Improving my mental toughness has been key, knowing I have to push through has really helped me get through every race stronger,” she said.
Lozo also took home the honor of A-10 Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Week back on Sept. 30. “It was really nice to win since it’s such a big honor, and it really just felt truly amazing,” she said.
Sophomore teammate Miranda Habshi credits Lozo’s character as a key factor in her success this year.
“She’s quiet and hardworking, a really sweet girl and a really great example of someone who’s been stepping up and doing what they need to get done every day,” said Habshi.
The women’s team has dealt with adversity this year, losing 3 of its top runners from last year to season-ending injuries early on.
“It’s definitely been hard; we’ve lost a lot of very strong runners this year, but the whole team has done a really great job of everyone being consistent and showing up each day,” Habshi said. “We didn’t use it as an excuse to give up on the season; we chose not to give up on ourselves.”
In preparation for the A-10s, the team is tapering down to freshen up their runners’ legs and reduce chances of injury.
“These next two weeks, the goal is to feel smooth, so we’re going to have two workouts per week to sharpen up and feel fresh,” said McCarthy. “Usually, we’re running 70-80 miles a week, but now we’re running 50-55 and feeling fresh.”
Peets believes the team’s depth will be the biggest key to their success in the A-10s this year.
“This is the most depth we’ve ever had on a team,” Peets said. “Usually, we only have three or four people who can really go up and dissect some of the best runners in the A-10, but now we’ve got a whole pack who can.”
