Runners Up
Women's Cross Country ranks second in MASCAC Championships
Mary Polleys
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Sports
With a time of 19:53.47, sophomore Sarah Lagasse placed second overall and lead the Women's Cross Country team to their second place finish at the MASCAC championship meet in Westfield last Saturday. Meanwhile, sophomore Bill Taft lead the Men's team to a heartbreaking third place finish, losing second place to Fitchburg State by only a point.
Both teams had three runners finish in the top ten and earn MASCAC honors. For the women, junior Amanda Hauswirth followed Lagasse placing fifth, and Jessica Eidinger placed seventh. For the men, Taft placed third followed closely by freshman Stephen Wahome who placed fourth and junior Ryan D'Arcangelo who placed tenth.
Lagasse was named the MASCAC Rookie of the Year for her performance, placing the highest of any rookie runner and Head Coach Jim Simoneau was named the MASCAC Coach of the Year for leading the Women's team to their second consecutive second place finish.
Coach Simoneau said, "It was a great honor being recognized as the Women's MASCAC Coach of the Year by the other coaches. It is certainly a testament to the BSC Women's team members' hard work with the many miles and workouts done over summer months and earlier this season."
Both teams are pleased with their performance at the meet and consider their second and third place finishes as exceeding their expectations.
Taft said, "Of course I'm disappointed we didn't win the meet, but I didn't really expect our team to even place as well as we did. We have had many injuries throughout the season so I was happy with how our team did."
Taft believes that he and Wahome, both rookies for the team this year, will only improve with experience in the two upcoming meets and next season.
"Next year, I believe that [him and I] will make a significant improvement just because of experience, and the other men on the team will improve as well as long as we all stay healthy."
Taft isn't going to let the team's painfully close finish get him down. "It doesn't mean anything to me. [Second] place is considered to be the first loser. All I care about is winning."
Both teams had three runners finish in the top ten and earn MASCAC honors. For the women, junior Amanda Hauswirth followed Lagasse placing fifth, and Jessica Eidinger placed seventh. For the men, Taft placed third followed closely by freshman Stephen Wahome who placed fourth and junior Ryan D'Arcangelo who placed tenth.
Lagasse was named the MASCAC Rookie of the Year for her performance, placing the highest of any rookie runner and Head Coach Jim Simoneau was named the MASCAC Coach of the Year for leading the Women's team to their second consecutive second place finish.
Coach Simoneau said, "It was a great honor being recognized as the Women's MASCAC Coach of the Year by the other coaches. It is certainly a testament to the BSC Women's team members' hard work with the many miles and workouts done over summer months and earlier this season."
Both teams are pleased with their performance at the meet and consider their second and third place finishes as exceeding their expectations.
Taft said, "Of course I'm disappointed we didn't win the meet, but I didn't really expect our team to even place as well as we did. We have had many injuries throughout the season so I was happy with how our team did."
Taft believes that he and Wahome, both rookies for the team this year, will only improve with experience in the two upcoming meets and next season.
"Next year, I believe that [him and I] will make a significant improvement just because of experience, and the other men on the team will improve as well as long as we all stay healthy."
Taft isn't going to let the team's painfully close finish get him down. "It doesn't mean anything to me. [Second] place is considered to be the first loser. All I care about is winning."
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