By: JERRY REILLY, Sports Information Director
CHAMPIONSHIP MEET WEBSITE
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The Fredonia State Blue Devils will compete against SUNYAC's nine other cross country teams at the conference championship meet Saturday.
The Blue Devils will travel with 14 men and 14 women to Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, near New Paltz. The women's 6,000-meter race begins at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at noon.
"The course is going to be tough," head coach
Tom Wilson said. "It will be cold, muddy and full of hills, but this team is ready to fight. We are going into this championship race with high expectations and we are ready to fullfil them."
Two women have shared No. 1 honors this fall for the Blue Devils: senior
Amanda Solly and freshman
Amanda Cocchiara. Solly was first at Buffalo State and Fredonia State meets, while Cocchiara has led the team at Lehigh and Oberlin.
Wilson feels both are capable of finishing among the top 15 runners Saturday. That would earn them a place on the All SUNYAC Team.
Freshman
Angela Richter, sophomores
Kim Foltz and
Alissa Conti, and juniors
Kateri Walsh and
Chelsea Haag have been the women's next-best runners this fall. They will be joined Saturday by freshmen
Marsha Cohen,
Sarah Minchen, and
Sarah Rocco; sophomore
Anna Hourihan; juniors Lyndsay Rynders and Chelsie Taddonio; and senior Emily Paccia.
On the men's side, Peter Francia, a junior who transferred to Fredonia State from Alfred State, has led the Blue Devils throughout the fall -- he's been the team's No. 1 finisher all four events he's run -- and is considered among the SUNYAC championship contenders.
Wilson believes that in order for the men to maintain their third-place finish from a year ago, juniors
Ryan Delaney and
Adam Steves will need strong races. Delaney has been the team's No. 2 runner all season while Steves has worked himself up consistently and finished No. 3 at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble.
Juniors
Jack Bennett and
Brian Gallagher; sophomores
Nico Piacentini and
Steve Whittemore; and freshmen
Zakk Hess,
Alex Gonzalez, and
Chris Shartrand will be fighting to round out the Blue Devils' top scoring five and displacing seven spots. Juniors
David Ballard and
Jon Williams, and freshmen
Jonmichael Knapp and
Dan Green will look to surprise.
"I would like to have this team continue to improve from last year," Wilson said. "It's important to maintain and improve after a long season of hard work."
