Women’s Cross Country Season Preview
Patchogue, NY| Winning has become a tradition for the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's cross country team. Since head coach Jim Crowley founded the program 18 years ago, the Golden Eagles have been a dominating force in the Skyline Conference, having won a total of 11 conference championships and five of the last five.
But Crowley is still hungry. "We expect to win the Skyline Conference for the sixth time in a row," he said, although he is aware of a surging Mt. St. Mary's program that has finished in second place for the past five years.
The Knights are still searching for their first-ever conference title, and Crowley knows fending them off for a sixth-straight season will prove challenging, especially after graduating last year's #1 and #2 runners AnnMarie Zigrosser and Lauren Waka.
2015 Skyline Conference Coaches Poll
1. St. Joseph's-Long Island (10) - 100 Points
2. Mount Saint Mary (1) - 90 Points
3. Sage - 79 Points
4. Sarah Lawrence - 75 Points
5. Farmingdale State - 59 Points
6. Yeshiva - 54 Points
7. Maritime - 47 Points
8. Mount Saint Vincent - 36 Points
9. Purchase - 31 Points
10. Old Westbury - 16 Points
11. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 15 Points
But Crowley will welcome back two other 2015 Skyline All-Conference First Team honorees in seniors Samantha Maurice (Holtsville, NY)—who finished fourth in the Skyline Championship last season—and Katie Scharrenbroich (Stony Brook, NY), who finished fifth.
Crowley will also lean on two other seniors—Brittany Guttieri (Oakdale, NY) and Megan Lavery (Islip, NY)—to help fill the voids Zigosser and Waka left behind.
"Maurice, Scharrenbrioch, Guttieri and Lavery are all hoping to be First Team All-Conference with any of them having a good chance of becoming the individual Skyline Champion," said Crowley.
"Additionally, junior Kelly Roberts (Stony Brook, NY) was second team All-Conference last year and has worked hard all summer to move up onto the First Team."
Sophomore transfer Erin MacDonell (Sayville, NY) also joins Crowley's ranks from Sacred Heart. Despite taking the last two years off, MacDonell has worked hard this summer to ensure she regains the strong form she showed when running for Sayville High School a few years ago.
Sophomore Amanda Sprague (Ronkonkoma, NY) and junior Jessica Pierno (East Patchogue, NY)—who are both members of the St. Joseph's track and field team—will run with the cross country program this coming fall for the first time. Sprague, a sprinter, could be an intriguing storyline in 2015.
Crowley's freshman class consists of Monica Grismer (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY), Abigail Lehr (Center Moriches, NY) and Taylor Darby (Blue Point, NY), of which "all are expected to contribute this fall."
In a year that carries great expectations, St. Joseph's will host two home meets, the first of which kicks off the season. The first Friends and Alumni Race will take place at Broadway Park in Sayville, NY on Tuesday, September 1 at 6:30 PM, while the annual St. Joseph's Invitational will run on Saturday, October 17 at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, NY at 12:00 PM.
The Skyline Conference Championships are set for Sunday, October 25 at Hudson Valley Dome in Milton, NY. The ECAC Championships will take place on Saturday, November 7 in Williamstown, MA. Crowley hopes his side will "finish in the top 10 for the fifth-straight year."