2002 Men's Cross Country Outlook

08/29/02

- With nine all-conference runners, five team victories and four all-region honorees, the 2001 season was another successful year for the William and Mary men’s cross country squad. Head coach Andrew Gerard led the Tribe to a 16th-place finish in the NCAA Championships. The program’s finish in the nation’s top-20 for the fifth year in a row is a feat that W&M shares with only six other schools in the country.

But with success comes expectations, and the bar continues to be raised. Strong performances aren’t encouraged; they’re expected. However, with a talented mix of experienced veterans and promising newcomers, the Tribe appears ready to take on the challenge and, once again, compete with the best teams in the nation.

“We look to have a very strong lineup coming into this season,”Gerard explained. “We possess excellent depth, with a good balance of people contributing, young and old, with experienced competitors as well as newcomers.”

The team’s philosophy, as it has been in the past, will be to have the team progress as the season goes along. His teams may start slow, but with an emphasis on the late meets, a strong finish is an annual occurrence. Preseason rankings may lead to higher expectations, while midseason struggles may lead to criticism. But year after year, conference title after conference title, William and Mary asserts itself as one of the elite programs in the country. This year should be no different.

While the Tribe is faced with the difficult tasks of replacing NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Athlete of the Year Sean Graham, and defending its Colonial Athletic Association title, previous results indicate that W&M should be up to the task.

“Last year we were an older team, but not tremendously experienced,” Gerard said. “This year, we should be a more balanced team with good experience across the board. We return a number of key upperclassmen from last year’s squad, including several young guys who really progressed through the spring and are poised to make an impact on the cross country course this fall. Also, the incoming recruiting class is talented enough to help early on.”

Leading the way for the Tribe is a crew of four runners with experience in the NCAA Championships. Seniors Jacob Frey, Ed Moran and John O’Connor, along with sophomore Matthew Maline are expected to anchor this year’s W&M team.

Moran, who transferred from the University of Richmond two years ago, had an excellent cross country season in 2000, finishing 32nd at the NCAA meet to earn All-American honors for the Tribe. After redshirting last fall, he is more than ready to contribute to the Tribe’s cause this season. Frey, who earned all-region honors as a sophomore, and finished eighth in the CAA meet in 2001, is perhaps the most experienced of any current Tribe harrier, having been to the NCAA meet in each of his first three years at W&M. O’Connor, an all-region selection for cross country last season, followed up a solid fall with a breakthrough spring track season, earning a CAA championship at 1,500m. Maline was CAA Rookie of the Year after a solid debut season that saw him place third in the CAA Championships in cross country. Indoor track season saw him break a 24-year-old freshman school record in the 3,000m, and he should improve with more experience.

A talented trio of seniors in West Garrett, Michael Keeling and Tyler Kirk will also be counted on heavily to lead W&M this fall. Garrett and Keeling both earned All-East honors last fall at the IC4A Championships finishing fourth and 13th, respectively. Garrett went on to represent the Tribe at both the indoor (5,000m) and outdoor (10,000m) IC4A Championships in the track season, while Keeling was selected to the all-conference team after a spring runner-up finish in the steeplechase. Kirk, meanwhile, possesses excellent experience as a two-time All-CAA honoree in cross country.

The Tribe has three solid sophomores returning to help the cause in Trevor Cable (Frewsburg, NY), Patrick Comstock (Portsmouth, VA), and Charlie Hurt (Charlottesville, VA). Cable’s resume already includes key appearances at the conference and IC4A level in both cross country and track. After a similarly successful fall, Comstock’s improvements on the track, including a 5,000m best only a tick off the freshman school record, can only bode well for the future. Hurt, a nice surprise last fall, redshirted the track season, but notched several impressive personal bests and looks to continue his progress this fall.

Others who can be expected to add depth and experience to W&M include upperclass returnees Brendan Gaffney (Western Springs, IL) and Adam Otstot (Richmond, VA)
Also back with the Tribe is a tremendous group of sophomores who began to learn the ropes last year. Jesse Contario (Newark, NY), Paul Costello (Springfield, VA), Jon Healey (Wayne, NJ), Jeff Hedley (Virginia Beach, VA), Kyle Pawlaczyk (Orchard Park, NY), Ryan Stevens (Drums, PA) and Bill Tarantino (Woodbridge, VA) have made the commitment to improve and are working hard to contribute to the College’s run in the 2002 season.

An excellent incoming freshman class will look to provide the next wave of William and Mary superstars, with six newcomers in particular expected to have a say in the outcome of the Tribe’s season. Newcomers Sean Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, MA), Wes Boone (Cary, NC), Brian Doherty (Roanoke, VA), Matt Keally (Virginia Beach, VA), Graham Kearney (Richmond, VA) and Jason Schoener (Grand Blanc, MI) all come in with sparkling high school accomplishments and look to make the transition to the collegiate level immediately.

The lineup will also feature several other incoming freshmen who will have the opportunity to learn from the experienced upperclassmen and hopefully develop into the next generation of successful Tribe runners. They include Billy Bylund (Great Falls, VA), Mike Dominguez (Herndon, VA), Bill Patchak (Newtown, PA) and Matt Wolak (Richmond, VA).

William and Mary’s schedule traditionally pits the Tribe against some of the top teams and runners in the country, and this year is no different. A challenging middle of the season includes a trip to the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA (Sept. 28) as well as the NCAA Preview Invitational in Terre Haute, IN (Oct. 19).

“We will work through the middle of the season, as we always have, but we have to balance that with gaining top-level racing experience. Our midseason meets will be a good way for us to test ourselves,” Gerard said of the tough schedule.

With a tremendous slate of returnees and a promising pack of newcomers, this year’s squad looks to continue the tradition of success at the highest levels. And, if the past is any measure, the team’s goals of peaking for its 10th conference title, a front-runner spot at the Southeast Regional Championships, and its best performance at the NCAA Championships are certainly in reach. As the 2002 season approaches, there is optimism that William and Mary will once again capture a place in the upper echelon of NCAA cross country.