NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Sophomore Lee Cattanach (New London) had a "breakthrough race", according to first-year head coach Kathy Manizza, helping the Eastern Connecticut State University men's cross country team to place 28th in a 39-team field Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Shriners' Cross Country Invitational, run on the University's campus.
The day started with rain, however it cleared up by the time of the races, as the temperature was in the low 70's for the race which was run over the flat, fast, grass course.
The women's team placed 25th in the 38-team field which was comprised of 293 runners. Senior Cora Gingras (East Hampton), the program's only three-year letterwinner, recorded the best time for the women's team (20:27), taking 108th place (scoring 100 points) over the 5,000 meter layout. The encouraging fact was that Eastern's five scoring runners were separated by only 50 seconds.
In the men's field of 293 men runners, Cattanach ran a personal best time of 26:14 to finish in 39th place – scoring 37 points -- over 8,000 meters – a pace of five minutes and 17 seconds which provided him with a cushion of two minutes and 17 seconds over Eastern's No.2 runner.
Cattanach improved his personal best by nearly two minutes. According to Manizza, Cattanach remained mentally strong throughout the race, thanks to his recent training with first-year assistant coach Kevin Brandon, a former four-year cross country runner under Manizza at the University of Hartford.
David Klein (New Milford), one of four sophomores on the men's team, finished in 179th place (166 points) with a time of 28:31. This time was 38 seconds slower than his time last year in this meet. However Manizza said, he is getting into better shape and he should improve throughout the year. As Eastern's No. 5 runner, freshman Steven LaFlamme (Moosup) finished with a time 32:38 in his first race at the five-mile distance (most high school courses are three miles).
Klein, first-year junior Evan Glaude (East Hampton) and sophomore Kyle Shaw (Lebanon) placed within 61 seconds of each other. Glaude was clocked in 29:08 and Shaw 29:32.
Manizza would like to see the men's team run more as pack in order to improve its finishing places in meets. She hopes that most runners will be able to reach the time that Cattanach had in this race, while she hopes Cattanach can get into the 25 minute time range. The team should also receive a benefit when sophomore Austin Baldour (Newtown) and junior Mike Singletary (Hartford) return from injury in time for the New England Open Championships in three weeks.
Manizza was pleased with the women's team's ability to run as a pack. Junior Katie France (Portland) was the women's second runner, clocking a time of 20:35 – just eight seconds behind Gingras, while junior Alexa Palasky (Griswold) was third in a personal -best of 20:59, marking her first sub-21 minute effort. Gingras' time was just 50
Eastern's No. 5 runner – freshman Courtney Magario (Voluntown) – ran just 50 seconds behind Gingras. Freshman Kylie McCartney (Manchester) ran with Palasky throughout before coming in just five seconds behind the junior. Magario also improved her own personal best, which gives Manizza the confidence to believe that the women's team all have the potential to become much better.
The team is very young and Manizza believes that it is not close to having achieved its potential, but she expects that it will be much improved in a month. As long as the runners believe in themselves and can build confidence in their abilities and their teammates, it could be a very successful season, says Manizza.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Shriners' Cross Country Invitational is one of the best Division III meets in New England. It is a 40-year tradition attended by many schools in New England.
The race was the second of the season for the Warriors, who had opened up two weeks ago by competing in the Keene State College Alumni Invitational for the first time.
Eastern competes in the Wesleyan University Invitational Saturday at 11 a.m.
