PREVIEW: Pride Looks To Youth Movement For Success in 2017
Regis Athletics Fall Previews
Men's Cross Country: Pride Looks To Youth Movement For Success in 2017
WESTON, Mass. - If you take a look at this year’s Regis (Mass.) men’s cross country roster, you’ll notice a theme: youth.
Head coach Kourtney Bonsey’s nine-man roster features four freshman and two sophomores, while senior Sam Mildrum (Hingham, Mass.) serves as the Pride’s lone senior.
Bonsey doesn’t see that as something that will hold the Pride back. “Sam’s our senior, he’s been here the longest,” she said. “He’ll definitely step up and lead. Kyle (Gillen-Hughes) and Shane (Romanchick) as well - they definitely lead by example. What’s really cool about our team, and cross country in general, is that everyone really comes together and leads.”
The top two runners from the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference runner-up Pride return to the team in 2017 in sophomore Jovan Sematimba (Burlington, Mass.) and junior Shane Romanchick (Trumbull, Conn.). Both runners were named First Team All-Conference in the NECC a year ago, and would each go on to set a combined six school records in track and field in the winter and spring. Kyle Gillen-Hughes (Reading, Mass.) and Nicholas Sahagian (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), each Second Team All-NECC honorees in 2016, also return to the Pride this season.
Gillen-Hughes in particular has caught Bonsey’s eye as the junior prepares for his second season running for the Pride. “He had our best finish at last year’s regional meet and he’s been training really hard this summer,” she said. “He’s going to be a big one to watch.”
Highlighting Bonsey’s deep 2017 recruiting class is freshman Sean Toomey (Salem, N.H.), a runner that Bonsey says will have a significant, immediate impact on the Pride. “I went and saw him compete this spring,” she said. “I watched him race the mile and the 800m and his times improved a lot from when I originally recruited him. He’s had a really good summer training so I’m expecting some pretty good things from him.” Toomey will be joined by freshmen Cutler Conquest (Live Oak, Fla.), JJ Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) and Matt Sowden (Scituate, R.I.) to comprise the men’s cross country Class of 2021.
For the fourth consecutive year, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams will head to Stowe, Vt. for a preseason training trip prior to its season opener. The team will stay at the Round Hearth at Stowe, a ski lodge and running camp complete with bunk beds for three nights, where the team will train twice a day. “It’s huge for team bonding and team cohesion,” Bonsey said. “We really set the tone for the season, start setting our goals and working as a team while we’re up there.”
The Pride’s 2017 schedule features seven meets in the fall, culminating with the GNAC Championship in Bristol, R.I. on October 28 and the NCAA Regionals in Portland, Maine on November 11. The team will open its season with a meet against Brandeis University at Wellesley College on Friday, September 1.