The End of the 2008 XC Season

The end of our 2008 season has come and some substantial achievements have emerged. We had the highest number of men cross the finish line (5). Our women's team had the highest number of participants (14). We ran more miles than we have run in the past. Our workouts grew in intensity. We had NECC Runners of the Week, NECC Runners of the Year, NECC All-Conference Runners, and NECC Team Champs. We accomplished so much in such a short period of time. Remember, this team has been in existence for only 3 years.

Congratulations to our Freshman for finishing out the year and being successful. Thanks to the captains for keeping the team together and creating a welcoming environment. Thanks to our veterans for setting the tone in practice and coming through in the clutch. Here are some highlights for each person.

Merrie Rothstein- Running 28:44 at Pop Crowell. Merrie finally broke 29 minutes!
Andrea "Dre" Hofius- Running through injury, Dre completed her first season of any type of competitive sport.
Anna Pless- Broke a 7 minute mile in practice and took a minute off of her personal best. Anna finishes her running career at Lesley with some impressive accomplishments and improvements. We will miss her laugh and her southern hospitality.
Erin Hurley- Improved by 2 minutes this year to finish with (25:12) as her best time. Erin moves on next year to bigger things as she will graduate. We will miss her humor and well-timed comments.
Janice Catalano - Co-Captain. Broke 25 minutes (24:56) at Franklin Park and found speed to be her strength.
Heidi Kuchenbaur-Co-Captain. Ran 2 minutes off of her personal best this year going from 27:05 to 25:33.
Elise Huebner- Ran a personal best(24:11) at Franklin park improving by 2 minutes over the season.
Raina Mesibov- After suffering from injury, Raina came back to make into the top 8 runners.
Sarah Chafe- Battled all year to get to her best. This year was learning experience for the Sophomore. Chafe ran her best race at Pop Crowell (23:59).
Rachel Federico- In her first year, Rachel ran extremely well being our 5th runner. Her best race was Saints Invitational (23:54). Note: Rachel is the first woman from her high school to run in college. She was invited back to Salem High School to speak to her former team.
Elize McKelvey- "Z-Money" showed talent and a dancing flair this year. Her best race was at Elms(21:48) and she was NECC All-Conference runner.
Jasmine Cuevas- "Jazzy" was the "NECC Rookie of the Year" and was 4th overall in the NECC
Heather Peng- Ran 20:40 at Pop Crowell and was 3rd overall in the NECC. She worked extremly hard all year and really performed well.
Charlotte Goff- NECC Women of the Year, RWU Invitational Champ, top 75 runners in the NCAA, and the school record holder in 5k (19:33).
Ben Arcangeli- Beginner runner who made history when he crossed the finish line at Pop Crowell. 5 guys crossed the finish line!!!!
Matt Hunt- During the NECC Championship, Matt blew by 4 runers in the last 200 meters to solidify the men's 3rd place finish. Unbelievable.
Sam Hunt- Sam came up big at the NECC Championship passing his guy in an emotional finish. It was important to see his consistency at the end of the season.
Brian Axelord- At the Saints, Brian cut his time down by three minutes from the previous year(29:21).
Fran Cusick-NECC All-Conference and school record holder (26:38). Fran ran his best race in the end, beating all other NECC runners in the ECAC Championship.