Alison Melillo
Journal Staff
As the start of the season is beginning, the men’s and women’s cross country teams have started their road to success.
Karen McKetchnie is returning in her second year as coach of the men’s and women’s cross country teams, and Brian Smith is in his first year as assistant coach. With the help of the two coaches, both the men and women on the teams are working hard to achieve their goals.
The women’s cross country team started their season on September 9th at Mass. Maritime Academy. It was the team’s first meet of the season, and they had a lot of success with seven members coming through the finish line.
The team placed ninth at the Lt. Travis J. Fuller Invitational this past Saturday morning, and the members on the club finished with a total of 221 points, placing ninth in the competition.
A new star for the team is freshman runner Alexandra Petsuck. In a race consisting of 100 people, she finished in the top ten with a time of 19:57. Following shortly after was sophomore runner Bridget Evangelista coming in 31st with a time of 21:44.
The women’s team consists of 11 female runners. There are three freshmen, including Taylor Casey, Catalina Rufin, and Petsuck. The sophomores on the squad are Rachel Allen, Peggy Chen, Cori Simmons, and Evangelista. The juniors are Flor Arguedas, Emily Farr, Jenisse Ruiz, and Christina Webster.
On the men’s side seniors Justin Mark completed Saturday’s race with a time 32:48 and Davidson McGuffie finished with a time of 40:32.
The men’s cross country team also participated in a meet at the Daniel Webster College invitational on September 16th. The team came through extremely successful, finishing among the top 30 runners.
The five mile course was completed with fantastic results from the Suffolk team. Mark came in fourth, with a time of 31:37, right before sophomore Matthew Bly, who ran in with a time of 32:42.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be running in New Hampshire again this Friday, this time at Rivier College for their invitational with hopes to continue on their solid streak for the season.
