Last season, the men’s cross country team had a roster that consisted of thirteen runners. This season however, the team’s roster has fallen to only nine runners after five of the key seniors have graduated.
Ed McAllister is back as the Head Coach of the team going into his 9th season as the team’s Head Coach.
Back on September 1, the men’s and women’s cross country teams kicked off their first races of the season in a 4.1 mile race at Horsetail Slough in Palos Heights for the UIC home opener. Six teams competed in the race and Saint Xavier was the only non D1 School involved.
Leading the way for the Cougars was Junior Brian Corcoran who ended up winning the race in a time of 20:58. He had a twelve second lead from the 2nd place finisher.
Freshman Eric Hancock had an impressive debut for the Cougars placing 2nd on the team and 12th overall with a time of 21:56.
Juniors Chris Shellenberger finishing 21st with a 22:18 time, Shane Kenney 25th with a 22:37 time, and Chris Sarna 26th with a 22:48 time packed well in the event finishing within six places of each other.
In the latest NAIA Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Saint Xavier women are ranked 24th. Last season the Cougars were ranked 16th in the NAIA Postseason Coaches’ Poll. The women’s race was 2 miles long. Senior Ashley Shares finished in 8th for the Cougars with an 11:51 time. Three of the women packed together with sophomore Elise Prieto finishing 17th with a 12:12 time, Jordan Wallace placing 19th with a 12:20 finish and freshman Dana Martin having an impressive debut for the team placing 20th with a 12:22 time.
That was Dana’s first race of her collegiate career. Junior Leslie Rosario finished 29th with a 12:41 time. Head Women’s Cross Country Coach Lisa Ebel had some encouraging words to say after the first meeting of the season, “It was a great way to start to our season. This team has a lot of talent and I’m excited to see what the girls can do as we progress through the season.”
The Cougars will be competing this Friday in Bourbonnais at the Midwest Classic. Start time for this event is 5 PM.
Good luck to all of the Cougars!
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