Cross country slips up in Big East

Coming off a sub-par performance at the Pre-National Invitational, the Panther cross country… Coming off a sub-par performance at the Pre-National Invitational, the Panther cross country team had hoped it would be able to return to its midseason form for this past weekend’s Big East Championship meet in Boston.

Yet for the second straight meet, the team didn’t meet its expectations and left the event disappointed.

“There is a little disappointment because we expected to do much better, especially on the men’s side,” said head coach Alonzo Webb. “I thought we had our bad meet out of the way at the Pre-National Invitational, but apparently not.”

The Panthers had confidence heading into the Big East Championships despite their former performance, because they were being held at a Franklin Park course, which was to Pitt’s advantage on paper.

This is because the course is flatter than most, a characteristic advantageous to several of Pitt’s middle distance runners. The Panthers also had several seasoned runners participating in the meet who were familiar with the championships.

Nonetheless, the Panther men finished seventh in the 8K race with 203 points, and the women placed 12th in their 6K race with 336 points. Both the men’s and women’s titles went to Providence.

Unlike the women’s team, the men were healthy and had the kind of big-race experience that should have catapulted them to the top. Their failure to do so was what made the outcome so disappointing to both the athletes and their coach.

“Last year we finished seventh, the same as this season, which we were very happy with considering all of the injuries we had to fight through,” Webb said.

“Despite the fact that the Big East added five schools this year, we were healthier and had expectations to finish in the top three or four. So, it’s a little disappointing. I think the guys would agree with my assessment.”

Leading the way for the men was senior Tim Konoval who finished 28th with a time of 24:31.00. He was followed by fellow senior Eric Fleming, who placed 37th with a time of 24:39.00.

Fleming has run extremely well as of late and has produced points for the Panthers in their last three competitions. Junior Sam Bair was Pitt’s third runner, finishing 40th at 24:43.00. This was an atypical place for Bair, who is usually the men’s best runner.

Next to finish for Pitt was senior Andy Tomaswick, who crossed the finish line in 43rd place with a time of 24:47.00. Rounding out the top five was senior Mike Long who placed 58th at 25:07.

“Andy ran exceptionally well, but our top guys (Konoval and Bair) didn’t have a particularly good meet, and I think that’s what hurt us,” Webb stated. “I honestly thought we could have had five of our guys in the top 25.”

The expectations for the women’s side were not nearly as high as the men’s going into the championships because of their youth and injury problems.

“We figured to be near the bottom on the women’s side this year, but I thought they ran really well as a group,” Webb said. “We just weren’t as close to the front as we wanted to be.”

Although injuries have greatly reduced the strength of the women’s squad, two of its top runners, sophomore Bailey Flask and senior Katelyn Fleishman, did return in time for the meet.

Neither of them, however, was quite strong enough to lead the women’s team. That position fell to sophomore Monica Bhattacharjee who placed 65th with a time of 23:01.00.

Flask was close behind and finished 69th at 23:04.00. Flask’s performance was the bright spot for the Panthers and was especially remarkable considering the fact it was her first race of the season as she missed the earlier races because of an injury.

“Bailey ran really well and it was exciting to see her out there,” said Webb. “We are lucky to have her back with us next year.”

Third for the Panthers was junior Nikki Bielick who placed 74th with a time of 23:14.00. The next Panthers to cross the finish line did so in 85th, 86th and 87th places. Senior Suzy Bossart led the mini-pack and placed 85th at 23:39.00.

Although the women may not have finished as high as they would have liked, Coach Webb was not disappointed.

“We are a young team,” he said. “We are only losing a few girls next year and have a strong nucleus returning. Yet, we’re still a couple of years away from seriously contending.”

The cross country team, especially the men’s side, must regain some of its swagger from the early part of the season if it hopes to compete with the district’s best teams at the NCAA Regional Championships on Nov. 11. The team will have two weeks to regroup before the meet, which will be held at Lock Haven University.

“We are healthy for once and have the potential to do really well at the Regional meet,” Webb said. “We just have to go in there with a positive attitude and get it done. Even if the team falters, I still think Tim Konoval and Sam Bair have a chance at qualifying for nationals individually if they run well enough.

“We have to weeks to get it together, we should be fine.”