The men’s and women’s cross country teams finished off their regular season at Franklin Pierce University, participating in the 10th annual Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup. Both teams posted a fourth place finish out of the six teams that participated and personal records for many players, along with strong performances that all-around helped the Beacons finish strong to close out the regular season. The entirety of the regular season for both men’s and women’s cross country has been fueled by personal bests and strong outputs in races, which has now all led up to Saturday, when they host the Little East Conference Championship at Franklin park on Oct. 29.
For the men’s team, the fourth place finish was supported by the impressive times posted by the Cannon brothers, graduate student Jimmy Cannon and his little brother Rob Cannon, who is a freshman. Jimmy finished in third place at the meet, posting a time of 25:18.4—his fastest time of the season by over 35 seconds. Rob finished a couple of minutes later, taking home 14th place with a time of 27:07.8, and other Beacons followed suit, with Zeph Alvarado crossing the finish line 32nd, and Frank Boua and Sami Mezrouh coming back-to-back at 43rd and 44th place (1).
The Cannon brothers’ strong output at the Cross Country Cup resulted in both of them taking home awards. Jimmy won his first LEC “runner of the week” award this season as a result of his vast improvement that generated his best time of the year, and rightfully so. Rob also took home his fourth consecutive “rookie of the week” award, which is a jaw-dropping feat to say the least (2). His awards date back to the 54th annual Codfish Bowl on Sept. 24, where he placed 33rd overall; Jimmy was able to place ninth for the Beacons, while Zane Alverado rounded out the three players in the top 100 for the Beacons, placing 86th (3).
However, Rob’s best run came in the Keene State Invitational, where he was able to shatter his personal record by over a minute, coming in 27th place. Alverado posted an all-time best too, as well as junior Chistopher Durding; Alverado admirably shaved over 47 seconds off of his previous personal best, and Zurding had a personal best after an outstanding showing saw him shave three minutes off the time he posted the previous week. Alverado and Zurn finished in 54th and 66th, respectively (4).
Even though the men’s season saw a lot of personal improvement at the Keene State invitational, the women’s team saw a lot of the same, too. The invitational saw freshman Jacqueline Earner finish 59th for the Beacons, and junior Rachel Green finishing nearly two minutes earlier than her previous race; she finished with a personal best in time and 74th place overall.
Freshman Aryianna Garceau completed the race with a personal record too, breaking her best by over 45 seconds, which was good for 85th overall. Angelina Mizzone finished in 94th, Abigail Schell in 150th in her collegiate debut, and Harleen Bassan finished 97th with a seasonal best. Sophomore Sarah Campbell also saw her personal best beaten by 17 seconds, and freshman Delaney Sartwell finished in 128th (5). As the season progressed, more personal records were broken too. Mezzone broke her personal record by 54 seconds and came in 100th, while junior Charlotte Millette finished with a PR and 138th (6).
The following week, the Beacons saw themselves finish strong at the Cross Country Cup; they came in fourth place and Earner saw herself post her second best time of the season, while leading the Beacons once again and finishing back-to-back with Mizzione at 20th and 21st place. The race also saw three Beacons cross the finish line in order in a matter of 20 seconds, with Green, Marceau and Bassan having great finishes to the regular season. Campbell also took 32nd place for the Beacons, and Millette crossed the finish line soon thereafter in a noble day for the Beacons (7).
Both teams are looking forward to hosting the LEC Championship at Franklin park, with runners having high hopes for what’s in store for the race on Oct. 29. The grand finish for the Cannon brothers in the Cross Country Cup could help propel the both of them, and with Jimmy being able to finish in third place in their previous race, now is the time to rest up, rejuvenate and show everyone why he was awarded runner of the week. The same goes for all runners; the two weeks of rest is vital for them to recover from their five previous meets, and if the Beacons have shown any sort of trends in the past few meets, it’s that they know how to improve themselves on a weekly basis. So with that, who knows where they’ll place in next week’s championship with more time to recover and train.