Hamburg, NY - The 2012 Hilbert College men’s and women’s cross country teams begin new seasons competing under Geoff Brunger’s guidance. On the men’s team, the upperclassmen gained valuable running experience last season which they will use to lead the recruited rookies through the ropes of college running. And for the women’s squad, Coach Brunger was focused on beefing up his women’s roster to complement the one returning veteran. These Hawks are committed to overcome the physical and mental challenges a cross country runner experiences in practices and competitions.
Men’s preview: Returning for their second season are junior Matt Williams (2011 team MVP), and sophomore John Sadowski. Williams and Sadowski both earned their personal best 8K time at the CCOC race hosted by William Smith College. Finishing first for Hilbert was Williams in 33:29 and Sadowski ran a 35:13 at the Seneca Lake State Park in Geneva, NY.
Newcomers to the program are first year collegiate runners, though they may not be a first year college students. Sophomore Rick Landahl joins the harriers after playing on the men’s lacrosse team as a freshman and senior Kyle Kriegbaum competes for the first time after transferring to Hilbert from Fredonia.
Three true freshmen will run in the blue uniforms this fall, with two of them arriving from Ontario, Canada. Andrew Cartaginese and Tyler Roth traveled to Hamburg from north of the boarder to join Joshua Walczuk who ventured east from Ohio to represent the Hawks.
Women’s preview: Stephanie Smith returns for her fourth and final year as a Hawk and hopes that her nagging injuries will not prevent her from racing again this season. Sophomore Kateland Ball, a three-sport athlete one year ago, became a harrier this fall when she switched from soccer to cross country.
Hilbert opens the season at the Fredonia Invitational (9/8) before they travel to Penn State Behrend’s Invitational in Erie, PA on September 15th. The Hawks will host their fourth annual Meghan Memorial race at Frontier High School September 22 then close out the first month of the season racing at the Harry F. Anderson event in Chili, NY. With a planned weekend off to start the month of October, Hilbert then races in the CCOC (Cross Country Only Competition – a race for institutions who do not sponsor track and field) October 13th before they finish the regular season at the first annual Wells Invitational. The ten-team Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship race will be hosted by Mount Aloysius on October 27th at Ebensburg Country Club (PA).