The men’s and women’s cross country teams of Pomona-Pitzer traveled to the UC Riverside Invitational Saturday, September 22, finishing in the twentieth and twenty-third places, respectively. In the 8,000 meter run, the men’s team were led by Nate Defelice ’04 (27:11.4, 53rd place overall) and Braden Boice ’05 (28:29.4, 125th place overall). Top P-P finishers in the women’s 5,000 meter event were Stefanie McDougall ’04 (20:43.0, 95th place) and Erin Wagner ’03 (21:05.0, 115th place). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the men’s overall field, while UC Irvine won the women’s.

Though these results may seem to put even the best P-P runners far behind those of other schools, one should keep in mind that this field featured NCAA Division I and II and NAIA scholarship schools, in addition to Division III teams. Thus it should be noted that while the top five SCIAC runners in Saturday’s race were from C-M-S, Defelice was the sixth-best SCIAC runner (other SCIAC teams who raced in the men’s field were Occidental, Cal Tech, and Whittier; the other women’s SCIAC teams were Occidental and La Verne). Also, Wagner’s run was, in the words of women’s coach Keith Reynolds, "a huge personal best," as she knocked 1:05 off of her time.

A disappointing surprise was the disqualification of Laura Bishop ’03.

"I went out too fast and had heat exhaustion," explained Bishop, last season’s SCIAC Runner of the Year.

She proceeded to drink water when she realized that she had no chance of winning and was immediately disqualified, though she did finish the run. Bishop ranked in the top 10 in the women’s field of 256 runners when she began to have breathing problems approximately 2.5 miles into the 3.1 mile race. Bishop said that she is in good health now and will be ready for the Stanford Invitational Saturday, September 29, in which both the P-P men and women will compete.

Neither Pomona-Pitzer coach was impressed with his team’s effort in the race.

"We had a couple of individuals run well, but as a team, it wasn’t a great effort," said men’s coach Pat Mulcahy. "With so many freshman, our team remains a question mark. We lost our top four from last year, so it is truly a rebuilding year. We need to learn how to race 8000 meters rather than the 5K from high school."

Reynolds was "a bit disappointed" with P-P’s results. "To finish 23rd out of 25 teams isn’t a strong showing, but I know we’re a better team than that, and we’ll show that in our later conference meets," he said.

Reynolds described the dusty Riverside course as "very flat and fast…one of the easiest courses we will see all season." He added that "later races will be on grass and will have more rolling hills to break up the race terrain."

Three weeks ago, both teams traveled to Halona for a retreat. The trip featured tough mountain runs and team bonding. Reynolds believed the retreat was "a great one," but Mulcahy said it was "too early to tell" whether it had a positive effect on his runners. Mulcahy’s less-than-optimistic remark should not be too startling, as his three top runners for this season decided not to run this year. Indeed, the top three men’s runners are all underclassmen: Defelice, Boice, and Dan Shickich ’05.

Looking ahead, both teams are hoping to come out strong in Palo Alto against a field that will be similar in strength — though smaller in size — to the Riverside Invite. While it is anyone’s guess how the Sagehens will fare, the young athletes on these teams-in-transition should have a much better understanding of what it takes to excel at this level.

Coach: Pat Mulcahy

Years as Coach: 31

Last Season’s Finish: Second place in SCIAC

Top Returners: None. Top three expected-returning runners are no longer with the team

Key Newcomers: Nate Defelice ’04, Braden Boice ’05, Dan Shickich ’05

Goals and Expectations for Season: To have top three runners qualify for regionals and to develop talented youth for the teams in the years to come.

Key Meets: SCIAC Duals, SCIAC Championships (10/27)

Coach: Kirk Reynolds

Year’s as Coach: 13

Last Season’s Finish: Tied for second place in SCIAC

Top Returners: Laura Bishop ’03 (2001 SCIAC Runner of the Year), Stefanie McDougall ’04 (2001 All-SCIAC second team)

Key Newcomers: Alexandra Borst ’05, Ann Prouty ’05

Goals and Expectations for Season: To place in the top three in SCIAC, allowing the team to advance to the NCAA West Regional

Key Meets: SCIAC Championships (10/27), NCAA Regionals (11/10)