2014 Pre Championship Coaches Video

The York men’s cross country team has the target on its back as the three-time defending CAC champions.  With the departure of All-American Tim Hartung, and the improvement shown by several teams at regular-season invitationals, the Spartans will be in a battle to extend their string of titles.

YCP returns four All-CAC runners from its 2013 championship squad, including seniors Wil Murray, Connor Simpson and Michael Stetson, and coach Steve LoBianco’s team has been successful so far this year.

But Christopher Newport also returns standouts like Samuel Martin and 2013 Rookie of the Year John LaPointe from a second-place team finish in last year’s title chase.  The Captains, who edged YCP in the team standings at a home invitational just two weeks ago, were the preseason favorite to capture the team trophy by the conference coaches.

CNU (77 points, five first-place votes) finished ahead of YCP (70 points, 3 first-place votes), Salisbury (65 points, two first-place votes) and Mary Washington (64 points) in the preseason poll.  Frostburg State and St. Mary’s, both with 43 points, tied for fifth place in the CAC coaches pre-season poll, followed by Marymount (27), Southern Virginia (25), Penn State Harrisburg (18) and Wesley (18).

Several runners from other teams may challenge for the individual first-place award, which could impact the final team standings.  Southern Virginia freshman Michael Myers has won several races this year and was named the CAC Athlete of the Week three times.  Additionally, the Marymount tandem of Collin Chartier and Tony Morales has earned conference weekly awards with strong performances.

The 2014 individual and team titles will be decided at the 2014 Championship Meet, hosted by the University of Mary Washington, on Saturday (Nov. 1) at the Four Winds Golf Club in Rappahannock Academy, Va.  The men’s race will begin at 11 a.m., the women’s chase will begin at noon, and the awards ceremony, including the honoring of the CAC’s Silver Anniversary squad, will begin at 1:15 p.m.

Here is a look at each team heading into Saturday’s championship:

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT enters the CAC Championships ranked third in the latest USTFCCCA South / Southeast Regional Rankings. Led by head coach Matthew Barreau, the Captains won the CNU Invitational in their last outing following top-four efforts in their first four meets of the season. Christopher Newport is headlined by sophomores Billy Rabil and JJ LaPointe, who were both honored as CAC Athletes of the Week earlier this season.

FROSTBURG STATE enters the CAC Championships with three-straight top-five finishes. Freshman Brad Baker has been the squad’s highest finisher in each of the last three meets, that included a top-five finish at Pitt-Greensburg.  Junior Greg Horning, junior Daniil Repchenko and sophomore Stanton Higham have all posted strong finishes in the last two meets, while Repchenko captured 11^th place at Pitt-Greensburg.

MARY WASHINGTON enters the CAC Championship having been ranked in the South/Southeast Region's top 10 for much of the season. Returning All-CAC runners Julian Menk and Nick Eghtessad are rounding into form after suffering various injuries through the season, while sophomore transfer Ben Sorensen looks for a top finish after ranking as the Eagles' top finisher for most of the team's races this year.

Collin Chartier is perhaps the most notable returner for MARYMOUNT this season, supplemented by classmate Carlos Elizondo’s consistent performance over the 2014 campaign.  Rookie Tony Morales has come on of late, winning his first individual title at the Hornet Harrier Invitational on October 11th.  Overall, the Saints boast tremendous depth heading into the league championship event, and look to improve on their seventh place team finish at last year’s finale.

As PENN STATE HARRISBURG continues to fight to the finish, they are ready to compete in the upcoming CAC championships, November 1^st at University of Mary Washington. The Lions have been led most of the season by sophomore's Nick Sturm and Joseph Phifer who has kept pace all season. Sturm ran a season best of 28:31.6 at the Charger Invitational while Phifer also ran his season best of 29:56.3 at the Penn State Harrisburg Invitational.  Penn State Harrisburg hopes to improve on their performance from last year’s conference meet where they finished in 8th place.  The Lions best team finish came at their home meet where they finished second of the four teams competing.

ST. MARY’S is looking to crack the top-4 for the fourth time in the program's six-year history. Buoyed by four top-4 finishes this season, the Seahawks are confident about accomplishing their goal and the senior trio of Tim Carey, David Kersey, and Collin Hickey as well as junior Aidan Hennessey will be counted upon to lead the squad.

SALISBURY enters the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference championships looking to build on last season’s third-place finish in the event. The Sea Gulls have finished fourth or higher in each of their races this season, while being led by junior Thomas Burke and senior Brandon Horning, who have the highest finishes for SU this season with sixth and fifth, respectively, at the Delaware Invitational.  Senior George Martinez has also been strong for the Gulls, finishing in the top 20 of every event this season, while junior Eric Wood and senior Jeremy Skarda have helped create a solid group of top runners for Salisbury.

Picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll, SOUTHERN VIRGINIA has stirred the pot entering its second time competing in the CAC championship race.  Michael Myers has garnered CAC Athlete of the Week honors twice this season, while the team’s top returners, Patrick Gonzalez and Kevin Prince, have fared well in each of the Knights’ competitions. Gonzalez earned a top 25 finish in last season’s CAC Championship race.  The addition of Myers has had a positive impact on the program as he challenges his teammates to perform at their highest level.

WESLEY will look to improve on last season’s ninth place finish and should be led by junior Carlton Sheppard and freshman Luis Arteaga both are among the school's top ten all-time.  Newcomers Ja’mier Bailey, Darryl Burks and Jeff Koletsky should also be in the mix, as will sophomore Adeola James who has made significant strides in recent weeks.  The Wolverines will also get a significant boost if Urgy Eado is able to compete as Eado ran the third-fastest time in school history earlier this month in his collegiate debut.

YORK enters the 2014 championships looking to capture their fourth straight championship. The Spartans have a strong front pack led by seniors Wil Murray, and Connor Simpson. The Spartans have received strong efforts from sophomores Matt Hayes and Colin Fleming while freshmen Grant Dell, Andy MacGibbon, Ryan Aug, and Alex Smith have also run well for York.  The Spartans have posted a pair of team wins during the year, capturing the Misericordia Invitational and the Rich Achtzehn Invite championships.