Keep On Trekking
Women’s cross country competes in Northeast Regional Championships Saturday
Cross country is not your average spectator sport. The demanding terrain makes it hard for fans to follow, but that doesn’t bother Bruce Lehane, BU women’s and men’s head coach. Cross country is all about striving to improve yourself, he says. Its solitary nature doesn’t require big crowds.
Last year the women’s cross country team placed second in the America East Championship, led by star runner Andrea Walkonen (SAR’09, SED’10).
“Andrea was running better than ever,” Lehane says. “She surpassed her personal best and got the University record in the 5,000, and also surpassed her personal best in the 10,000.”
But injury, every athlete’s concern, has kept Walkonen on the sidelines for much of this year.
“We had the chance to step it up,” the coach says, “but we didn’t. That leaves the team in a weaker position than we hoped. On an individual basis, our athletes are doing quite well. They are progressing nicely.”
The setback has affected the team, but has not caused the runners to become downhearted. “We have a young team, but we have to use everything we have,” says Captain Sarah Mosser (COM’10). “We know what we’re up against, and we do well with challenges.”
At the America East Championships, held on October 31 in Vermont, the Terriers tied for fifth place. Chances of ranking high in their next meet, Saturday’s NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, unfortunately do not look good. Lehane expects the team to finish in third or fourth place, although “in sports anything can happen,” he says.
The women’s cross country team is competing in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, Saturday, November 14, at 3:30 p.m. at Dorchester’s Franklin Park.
Nicole Rojas can be reached at nrojas@bu.edu.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.