WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College cross country team is in the midst of a three-day preseason camp in Vermont as it prepares for the 2019 campaign, which begins this Friday, Aug. 30, at the Wellesley Invitational.
The men's cross country team is experiencing a transformation this year with five freshmen joining two seniors and two sophomores. JJ Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) and Nicholas Sahagian (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) will provide leadership for the squad as the new runners figure out how to plan for courses longer than the ones they competed on in high school.
"We have a really good dynamic so far. We want to build a solid base in preseason and then continue to train hard throughout the season as we head into the conference meet," Pedersen said.
On the other hand, just one newcomer joins an experienced women's cross country team. All-league performers Maddie Boucias (Buckland, Mass.), Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.), and Maggie Mann (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) are expected to lead the way as the Pride aim to improve from last year's fifth place finish at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships.
"I'm excited about returning to the team this year. Our energy has been really high so far in practice. I believe we can become really strong and build a team atmosphere, helping and pushing each other to run faster as the year goes along," said Mann.
Head coach Kourtney Bonsey enters her fourth season at the helm of the Pride cross country program. With a large group of newcomers, especially on the men's side, one of the early focuses for her is to help the freshmen prepare for the upcoming competition, including acclimating them to the overall team culture.
"We brought in a lot of freshmen, but we have strong leadership within our seniors, so we are excited to get our freshmen started as well as have our veterans improve upon what they have done in the past," Bonsey said.
After Wellesley, the Pride will compete at meets hosted by Endicott, UMass Dartmouth, and Keene State. Regis will make two trips to Standish, Maine, competing in the Runnin' Monks Invitational in order to see the course that will be used for the GNAC Championships in November.
At the conference meet, the Colby-Sawyer men and the Emmanuel women will be defending their 2018 titles. In both races, the Pride will be competing with other top squads like the Chargers, the Saints, Suffolk, and host Saint Joseph's College.
The 2019 season will once again wrap up in Brunswick, Maine, as Bowdoin hosts the NCAA Division III New England Regional Saturday, Nov. 16.