The Norwich men’s cross country team has surprised many this season. Despite having a large number of freshmen on the team, Norwich has exceeded expectations and is in line to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
Despite having eight freshmen out of 21 runners, the Cadets ran for third place at the Vermont State meet which took place at Johnson State College, on Oct. 3, placing four runners in the top 25.
“We did pretty good,” said Joseph Rosenthal, 18, a freshman mechanical engineering major, from Baltimore, Md. “Everyone did their part.”
Rosenthal finished 19th behind senior co-captains Michael Monaghan and John Pomeroy, who finished 16th and 10th respectively.
Norwich had two meets left after finishing 16th as a team on Oct. 10. On the 17 they traveled to Springfield, Mass., to run in the Western New England College Invitational. At the end of the month they have their biggest challenge by running in the GNAC Championship at Rivier College in Nashua, N.H.
Team members have high hopes for the GNACs and believe they have a bright future in front of them.
“I personally think we can win GNACs,” said Rosenthal. “Then move on to the Northeast Regions for Division III.”
Norwich’s biggest competition at the GNACs is Johnson and Wales University (JWU). JWU upset Norwich in last year’s GNACs, placing first while Norwich finished second after winning the three years prior.
“Our biggest goal is to win GNACs,” said John Pomeroy, 25, a senior civil engineering major from Stafford, Va. “If we don’t win GNACs it would be a disappointment.”
With so many freshmen this year, Norwich has high hopes for future seasons.
“This year we have the most freshmen the team’s ever had,” Rosenthal said. “And coach is expecting another big group of freshmen like this.”
Pomeroy says that despite Norwich losing its top two runners next year, the younger runners will “step up” and “only get better.”
Norwich faces a large challenge on Halloween, but has the distinct advantage of running the course in a prior meet at Rivier College. Runners goals are high as they look forward to sending their seniors off in the right fashion.