Photo Courtesy of Robbie Lynch ’24
On Nov. 19, 9 members of the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams competed in the 2022 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in East Lansing, Michigan. While the Men’s team received an at-large bid following their fourth-place finish at the Mideast Regionals, senior Julia Curran and junior Lauren Hino were invited to compete after earning All-Region honors after top 20 Regional finishes. This was the second straight appearance for Curran, who placed 183rd in the 2021 race. Hino, however, made her first appearance on the national stage. The Men’s team competed for the first time in 20 years.
Despite a snowy backdrop and freezing conditions, teammates of those running drove over 12 hours to support their peers. The course was slick, which proved a difficult venue as recent snow and freezing temperatures at Forest Akers Golf Course. However, the runners did not let the poor conditions affect their performance, improving greatly on last year’s finishes for the returners. Seniors Matt Carter and Jeffrey Love, who qualified individually and finished the 2021 race in 144th and 95th place respectively, earned All-American honors after securing top-40 finishes this year. Carter, who churned out the top performance of the day, finished in 19th place, while Love was not far off in 32nd of 294 total runners from colleges all across the country. Carter and Love, in conjunction with 5 other male runners from Conn who finished in various places throughout the field, helped Conn secure a 24th-place finish overall based on point accumulation across all male runners.
Love, who concluded his career as an All-American runner, saw the successful culmination of his career after years of hard work and countless miles. After a long career in which “the team fell short of reaching our goal over and over while being so close,” Love felt vindicated to have achieved both team and personal success, as “finally reaching it was truly worth it as now we all have something we can share.” Love concluded that while the team’s success and competing on a big stage with his fellow runners was most important, “doing well once we got there was just the cherry on top.” Echoing this sentiment, Chris Verstandig, a senior captain, dubbed this event as “an unforgettable experience.” For Love, Verstandig, and the class of 2023, “making it as a team was a goal us seniors have had for the past 4 years and to finally make it happen was a really special feeling.” The extremely accomplished seniors will leave a legacy of excellence in their wake.
Ahead of her final collegiate race, Curran proclaimed that her “ultimate goal is definitely to improve upon my performance at last year’s championship.” After crossing the line with a time of 23:27.9, Curran placed just outside of the top 100, significantly moving up from her previous performance. Prior to the regional race, Curran was sick and relied on Hino to push her to keep pace, saying, “Lauren’s amazing performance at regionals (helped) me along during the race and (allowed) both of us to qualify.” With the conclusion of this race, Curran satisfied her goal of improving on last year while capping off a decorated career.
While the fall season shaped out to be an overall success with members from both the Men’s and Women’s team competing in nationals, the program will lose experienced veterans and extremely talented athletes to graduation. However, Hino, along with first-year Jonothan Norton, junior Brendan Mellitt, and sophomores Matt Scardigno and Harry Harwood will return after gaining valuable experience on the national stage and will look to continue elevating the program to new heights.
