Cross country teams win league titles for second year

BY KENNY LUCAS

With about one mile to go in the Patriot League Cross Country Championship, junior Pat MacAdie knew he and his AU mates were running a good race. He just didn’t know how good—until he looked around.

“At the fourth mile I felt pretty good and just said I’ve got to go, go now,” MacAdie said. “I went up a hill and looked back and all of a sudden I had a pretty big lead. I must have looked back 10 times in that last mile just thinking ‘Are they coming? Are they coming?’ It was definitely a surprise.”

Photo by Larry French Pat MacAdie overcame all competitors and the heat to win the Patriot League championship.

MacAdie may have surprised himself by winning the race, but the Eagles team championship probably didn’t shock anyone. AU won their second consecutive league title, besting second-place Navy by 24 points on a five mile course in Easton, Pa. The Eagles placed five men in the top eight with Matt Seymour finishing fourth and Sean Duffy, Phil Gaeta, and Danny Maurer coming in sixth through eighth.

“Really anyone of us could have won it,” MacAdie said. “We’ve just got so many talented guys on this team.”

As it was MacAdie scored the first win in his cross country career. His previous best finish had been a fourth at the 2002 Mount St. Mary’s Invitational. The breakthrough is all the more impressive when it’s considered that the championships took place under the blanket of 80-degree heat.

“It felt hotter,” MacAdie said. “But as a team we just stayed more patient. The course itself was kind of hilly so you didn’t want to make a move early on and have it catch up with you later . . .

“Me, Danny, and Matt were running one, two, three, and Duffy and Phil were right back there so it was really just like running any other day. It really helps to have these guys with you because you know them so well. You’re thinking if they can run this pace, I can too, and that gives you confidence.”

Shortly after the men’s team had captured their crown, they fanned out again along the course, this time as fans. The new champion, MacAdie, and his teammates cheered on the AU women’s team as they put on a similarly scorching performance. Led by Keira Carlstrom, Kelley Taylor, and Jen Baclawski, who swept the top three spots in the race, and Whitney McNees who came in sixth, the women’s team captured their second straight league title, defeating Army by 27 points.

“I think they might have been a bit better than us,” MacAdie said. “Finishing one, two, three is unbelievable. It’s just a good feeling to be on the bus ride home and everybody’s happy because they did the best they could and were rewarded for it.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams are in only their fifth year of existence. They will next compete in the NCAA regionals in Lock Haven, Pa., against some of the top teams in the country. Chances are those teams will know the AU runners’ names.

“You can’t just brush us off,” MacAdie said. “The gap is closing, and it’s just going to keep getting smaller.”