BEVERLY, Mass.- With the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships being hosted at Gordon tomorrow for both men's and women's cross country, the Endicott squads have been preparing since last year for this event to show that they are ready to be big players in the CCC picture. In 2013, the men were led by Noah Mondello (Gloucester, Mass.) as the team finished sixth while the women were led by Erin Haynes (Oakham, Mass.) who guided the team to a fourth place finish. With last year's success coupled with the strong showings throughout this season, head coach Nick Radkewich is expecting big results from both programs.
"For the men, Zach Marshall (Hinesburg, Vt.) will lead us at the CCC's this year," stated Radkewich. "Noah has gotten stronger all season and I expect him to have his best performance of the season. With this being the first CCC Championship race for many of our men, seniors Alex Walecka (North Dartmouth, Mass.) and Mitchell Renfrew (Barkhamsted, Conn.) have been leading the discussion of what to expect and how to prepare for this atmosphere.
"For the women, Erin Haynes will lead the way as she has all year. Junior Grace Brigham (Montpelier, Vt.) has had a breakout season and I expect her to be running at the front of the pack. New-comers Kiera Malone (Woburn, Mass.) and Elizabeth Vincent (Marshfield, Mass.) have been solid all season and I expect them to race well in the difficult conditions that are predicted for Saturday. The top five will be rounded out by senior Jocelyn Kane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) who I expect to close out her CCC career with a great effort, and Holly Rigoli, (Waltham, Mass.) who is always our wild card in races, and has benefited from another season of experience.
The CCC Championships will be run at Gordon this year on their brand new course. Radkewich was able to lend some insight into what he expects with the course and conditions that will be concerns for all teams. "The course is a challenging one, more of a trail race course than a cross country course. It is very wet still from last week's storm and that will benefit the prepared and strong teams vs. straight up speed teams. That should play into our favor as we have reviewed the course and trained on it. I can't think of a better venue for our runners to have breakout performances."
With this being Coach Radkewich's second season at the helm, the Endicott teams have seen success in that short period that hasn't been seen in recent history. When asked what he attributes that success to, he spoke highly of the student-athletes and their will to compete. "We have a great group of student-athletes that are determined to perform at Endicott standards. The conference has improved greatly across the board and the more competitive atmosphere should help with recruiting and continues to push our student-athletes to better performances each week.
With both cross country teams competing in the second CCC fall championship (women's tennis), the teams would love to see a crowd at the meet just a few minutes away at Gordon. Race times are slated for 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. with the women starting first.
