By Alyssa McLaughlin / Sports Information Intern
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The summer of 2014 was full of hard work and weekly running regiments for the Eastern men's and women's cross country teams. And that dedication is clearly paying dividends.
At right: Lee Cattanach (maroon uniform)
The proof has come in the first month of the season, with most of the runners either beating their personal best or coming very close to doing that at the University of Massachusetts Invitational this past Saturday at North Dartmouth, MA There were 255 runners in all and Eastern senior Lee Cattanach (New London) placed second overall after being sidelined for over a year with an injury.
Cattanach had not run in a competitive race since 2012, and was Eastern's top male runner for the meet. His phenomenal return was recognized by the Little East Conference as it awarded him Runner of the Week. Cattanach is the first Runner of the Week selection from men's cross country since 2009. The momentum from Cattanach spread throughout the rest of the Eastern cross country program as well.
All five of the top male runners for Eastern ran personal records in the meet. Sophomore Chris Armstrong (Bolton) improved his time by over four-and-a-half minutes compared to last year, finishing 78th overall. His summer workout of running 70 miles a week has started to pay off.
In the women's Varsity race, another sophomore, Mariah McPhee (Bristol) ran a time of 19:47, and it was the first time she has ever dropped below the 20 minute mark. Though McPhee did well, nearly every runner on the team was able to run her best time ever.
"I'm really proud of the hard work that the athletes did over the summer," stated third-year head coach Kathy Manizza. "It's paying off and they are running some great times. We're taking next weekend, off which will allow us time to have a hard week of training this week."
Eastern competes in the first of two meets in the month of October when it participates in the Community College of Rhode Island Tri-State Open Oct. 4.
