LEICESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University men's cross country team opened up their 2016 campaign at Fitchburg State's Sheehan Memorial Invitational on Saturday (Sep. 3).

The team, which returned all of its top runners from last year as well as bringing in several strong freshmen, did largely as expected in this first meet with most of the veterans improving their times on this course from 2015.

According to head coach Al Halper, "I told the guys to get out with the opening pace of the race.  That became an issue, as our front pack was a little over- aggressive at the start and as a result, faded some in the second mile. After that, many of our top ten worked their way back into the thick of the race and finished strong over the last two miles, passing a number of runners late in the meet.  We finished well in a solid pack with our top seven under a minute apart." 

Westfield State took the crown, as Bridgewater State and Fitchburg State followed (64 and 67 points, respectively). The Lancers landed in the fourth slot with 91 points, while UMass Boston, Framingham State and Anna Maria followed.

 "This meet, despite being the first of the season, was actually a preview to the conference meet as five of the conference teams ran," mentioned Halper.  "We have a good idea as to how we stack up and what we now need to do to improve our position by championship time." 

Leading the Lancers on the pathway was freshman Richard Custodio (Wakefield, Mass.) who finished the 8K run in 29 minutes even at 15^th place. "Rich showed his potential today as he was the first Lancer finisher moving steadily past opponents throughout the race," commented Halper.

In the 18 and 20 slots was the sophomore duo of Christian Vera (Worcester, Mass.) and Joseph Grider (Hopedale, Mass.), finishing in 29:20 and 29:22. Down the line, Michael Ricci (Peabody, Mass.) and Patrick Scheeler (Wakefield, Mass.) came in 26^th and 27^th, respectively, while Patrick Haverty (Woburn, Mass.) and Robert Davis (Acton, Mass.) marked 30^th and 31^st, respectively.

"Freshmen Pat Haverty also had a good first collegiate race," noticed Halper.  "After leading the "Woo Crew" through a good portion of the race, Pat faded some, but remained among the top seven Worcester State finishers."

Despite the team not having a finisher in the top ten, the squad finished their top seven ahead of all teams except Westfield State. "This is a good sign of our depth and talent level,"   Halper stated. "Today revealed the need for one or two of the team to emerge as a stronger frontrunners this season as occurred last year to some degree.  If the rest of the strong pack continues to develop, run tight as a group, and chase whomever steps up, we can expect some good things to happen later on this season." 

Halper concluded, "This team has a great deal of potential.  They have the ability, the motivation and the attitude to be winners. As they get in the workouts to better prepare them and maintain the intensity and passion needed to be successful, good things will continue to happen.  Our season goal is to improve our overall team position at the championships. We took that first step towards that goal today."

The Lancers travel to Biddeford, Me. next weekend (Sep. 10) for the University of New England Invitational.

Meet Results

1. Westfield State – 25 pts.
2. Bridgewater State – 64 pts.
3. Fitchburg State – 67 pts.
4. Worcester State – 91 pts.
5. UMass Boston – 145 pts.
6. Framingham State – 167 pts.
7. Anna Maria – 201 pts.