Bethlehem, Pa.--- The Moravian College men and women's cross country teams will travel to Towson, Maryland on Saturday, November 1 for the 2014 Landmark Conference Championships which are set to start at 11:00 a.m. at Goucher College.
The men's cross country team finished in fourth place last year which is where the preseason poll selected the Hounds to finish this year. The women took first place last year and were selected to repeat as conference champions in the preseason poll. Both teams have seen the course this season, the women placed first while the men took third on the course at the Goucher Classic on October 11.
"The preseason poll is really just a guesstimation," stated fourth-year Head Coach Jesse Baumann. "You never know how athletes will develop and progress, especially freshmen, and you don't know how healthy people will stay. I thought the men were ranked about where they belonged, and as I said back in August, I felt Elizabethtown should have been ranked first.
"We previewed the course about three weeks ago which I think will really help the athletes mentally prepare for the race." Baumann continued "This isn't a standard cross country course that we run on, so it was good to have the exposure to it well in advance."
The Greyhounds are looking to keep pace with favorites Elizabethtown College and Susquehanna University on Saturday. "On the women's side, Elizabethtown has consistently demonstrated throughout the year that they're the favorite. Of course anything can happen," commented Baumann. "After that, Susquehanna, Scranton, and us are all in the mix for the next four spots and I think it's an any-given-day type of scenario with those teams. Weather could play a big factor, especially if it rains, so I think those next three spots are tough to predict."
Moravian does return seven runners, four of which being All-Conference. Seniors Claire Del Casale and Emily Lambright return after being on the First Team with top seven finishes last November while senior Devon Bedell and sophomore Meg Brockett made the Second Team in 2013.
"With the men, Susquehanna is the favorite and like E-Town on the women's side, if they run their race they will be tough to beat, stated Baumann. "I think we'll be battling E-Town, and Juniata for the next spot. USMMA is a dark horse as well, we haven't seen them a lot this year, but they've run some respectable times and have some experience on the course which could play to their advantage. If we run our best race, I feel like we could contend for second, but we need all five of our front runners firing on all cylinders on Saturday."
Returning are junior Jeremy Rigotti, junior Maxwell Korten and senior Corey Schauerman along with. seniors year, both Landmark First Team All-Conference honorees Alec Duncan and Dillon Farrell. Duncan finished in 7th at the 2013 Landmark Conference Championships, earning him Landmark All-Conference First Team honors for the third straight year. He was also named to the Landmark Conference All-Sportsmanship Team honors.
Farrell, who is looking for his third Landmark Conference title this year has been the Conference Athlete of the Week four times this fall along with being selected twice as the Corvias/ECAC Division III South Co-Runner of the Week.
"Dillon is in great shape and at this point is healthy so we're hoping for some good things from him. He likes the course at Goucher and it plays to some of his strengths, so as long as the weather is tolerable and he feels OK, I think he has a chance to win," stated Baumann.
