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NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The 2015 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) cross country season gets underway in just a few weeks, and several men's and women's programs will enter the new campaign with high hopes of competing for a league crown.
The CACC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will serve as the ultimate race during the 2015 campaign, as the conference will conduct its championship event on Sunday, Oct. 25 at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia. University of the Sciences, under the guidance of Director of Athletics Marc Caserio and Head Cross Country Coach Bob Heller, will serve as the host school for the championship, as teams will look to hoist CACC hardware while also ramping up for the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship Race in early November.
The 2015 cross country season comes on the heels of a competitive and exciting 2014 campaign, which saw both the Philadelphia University men's and women's harriers capturing the CACC titles. In addition to the performances of the Ram thinclads at the championship meet, several other student-athletes from numerous CACC schools turned in memorable performances at the league race.
The following are capsule looks of the teams entering the 2015 season:
BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE: The men's team will benefit from the return of a pair of top runners from a season ago in Johnny Vega and James Menendez. Both harriers will look to earn all-conference honors, while also serving as leaders for a young squad, which will feature four newcomers this year. Farheen Abassi and Lisette Castillo will look to provide guidance and steady performances for the women's program, which will feature several runners capable of all-conference consideration this season.
CALDWELL UNIVERSITY: The Caldwell men's team was one of the youngest squads in the conference last season as five of the eight harriers on the roster were freshmen. A year's worth of experience should be beneficial for the Cougars, as they look to move up in the team standings at this year's league race. The women's squad will be led by sophomore Victoria Thaler, who had an impressive rookie season in 2014-15. On the cross country race course, she was the highest Cougar finisher at the CACC Championship, as she placed 22nd. That solid performance carried over into the track season where she earned CACC Female Track Rookie of the Year honors at the conference championship meet in early May.
CHESTNUT HILL COLLEGE: The Griffin men welcome back sophomore Giancarlo Martines, who as a rookie in 2014, finished ninth to earn All-CACC honors at the conference championship race. Junior Eric Barton narrowly missed out on all-league honors, as he turned in a respectable 16th-place effort at the CACCs. On the women's side, three of the Griffins' top-four finishers at the CACC meet last year were freshmen. Paige Antall was the top finisher for CHC at the conference race, as she placed 31st.
CONCORDIA COLLEGE: The men's team returns one of the top runners in the conference in senior Victor Palumbo, who earned All-CACC honors in 2014 after finishing in sixth place at the league championship race. The women's team was one of the youngest in the conference as four of the five runners that competed in the CACC Championship were either freshmen or sophomores.
DOMINICAN COLLEGE: The Chargers men's team will be taking part in its inaugural season of varsity competition this season, as the squad will be experiencing many firsts on its way to the league championship race in late October. The Lady Chargers are looking forward to the 2015 campaign with the return of junior Emily Lopez, who was the top performer for the team during the 2014 season, including a 49th place effort at last year's conference championship race.
FELICIAN COLLEGE: Under the guidance of new head coach Rob DeCarlo in 2015, both Felician squads will deal with depth issues as both programs saw several top runners graduate following the 2014-15 school year. The women lost six runners to graduation, but will be benefit from the return of Sabrina Roldan, who earned All-CACC honors in 2013 and finished 30th at last year's championship. The men are bolstered by the return of Mike Secreti, who placed third at last year's CACC Championship to earn All-CACC honors, while also winning the 1,500 meters at the CACC Track & Field Championship in the spring.
GEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY: The men's team benefits from the return of a pair of strong runners from a season ago in Uriah St. Lewis and Patrick Parr. Parr turned in a 25th-place showing at the league championship, while St. Lewis followed not far behind in 35th. The women's program saw several strong finishes a season ago from CACC Rookie of the Year Jessica Handsaker, who earned top freshman honors after finishing second at the conference championship. Two other Lions also finished among the top-26 runners at the race, including Amanda Farina (25th) and Laura Mentone (26th).
GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE: The men's team returns Aaron Easter, who claimed All-CACC honors last season after placing fifth at the league championship and helping to lead the Lightning to a third-place finish. It marked the second-consecutive year Easter claimed all-league accolades. The women's team last season was highlighted by Crystal McCollum, who ended 19th at the CACC Championship. That came two weeks after she won the Hood College Open, one of her three top-10 finishes on the year. Jordan Dodson closed 23rd at the CACC Championship after finishing second at Hood College. She also had three top-10 finishes on the year.
HOLY FAMILY UNIVERSITY: The men's team will be young this season with several freshmen slated to join the roster. The women will be led by a trio of juniors this season in Ces Coleman, Achaia Pierre and Kianna Tidball. Last season, Coleman led the Tigers at the CACC Championship finishing 32nd overall and recording a season-best time of 21:58.3 in a 5k race. The Tigers return five runners overall from last season and currently welcome in three freshmen.
NYACK COLLEGE: The Warrior men's team was quite young last season as the team's top-four finishers at the league championship were either freshmen or sophomores, including Thomas Trott, who placed 26th as a rookie at the CACC meet. The women's team, which claimed the CACC title in 2013, followed that up with a solid second-place showing in 2014. The Warriors were led by then rookie Ariana Nash, who placed seventh, while then sophomore Sara-Caitrin Mandelburg and Trisha Frazer finished 14th and 15th, respectively, to earn All-CACC honors as well.
PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY: The Ram men's team was loaded with seniors last season as it marched to the conference championship. The only returnee is sophomore Alec Fixl, who competed in three races last fall. The women's team features the return of four All-CACC performers from a year ago, as those student-athletes played a major role in PhilaU capturing the conference championship. Included among the returnees is Emilie Barton, who won the conference runner-of-the-year honor after claiming the individual championship in the league meet. The other three All-CACC returnees include Alyssa Litty, Jessica Thies and Victoria Frisbie.
POST UNIVERSITY: The men's team placed sixth at the CACC Championship last season, marking the program's highest finish in the history of the conference race. A pair of top runners return, including John Ducham and Ryan Acey, who was the team's highest individual finisher in all but one race in 2014. The women return D.J. Alberto, who was the highest individual performer in each race last year.
UNIVERSITY OF THE SCIENCES: Six runners return for the men in 2015, including Tommy Mauro and Tim Storino, who was the team's highest finisher (32nd place) at the CACC Championship in 2014. The women welcome back Brianna Ligotski, who earned All-CACC honors last season for the third-straight year. Her top-15 finish helped lead the Devils to a sixth-place finish at the championship.
WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY: The men's team finished second at last year's championship and return a trio of runners who have earned all-conference accolades over the past two years. Andrew Milham and Ken Fontal earned All-CACC status by finishing 11th and 14th, respectively, at last year's championship, while redshirt senior Richie Mitten returns following an injury plagued season in 2014. Prior to his injury, Mitten was sensational in 2013, as he won the CACC individual title, finished sixth at the NCAA Regional and ultimately finished 115th at the NCAA National Championship race. Megan Ferrick is the top returning female runner in 2015, after she claimed All-CACC status with a fourth-place showing at last year's CACC Championship. She also earned a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Regionals.
The opening weekend of the cross country season will be staged Sept. 4-6, as several schools will be competing in various events throughout the region.