X-Country finishes strong in GNAC competition

Norwich University men's cross country team gave it their best last month at its championship race, according to one of the team members.

"We gave 100 percent," said Joseph Rosenthal, 19, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Pasadena, Md. "We all gave it our best, and we all know that."

The men's cross country team traveled to St. Joseph's College of Maine on Oct. 30 to compete in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship race. They finished the race in third place.

"We went into the race expecting second," Rosenthal said. "And we were really close."

"Everyone was a bit nervous," said Brandon Bausch, 18, a freshman political science major from Cape Cod, Mass. "But everyone was definitely really excited and just ready to prove themselves."

The team earned 78 points and its overall time was 2:27:39.53 with the runners averaging 29:31.91.

Rosenthal placed eighth and was the top runner for NU with a time of 28:40.02, earning all-conference honors. Bausch received 19th, third for NU, his time being 30:00.09.

Bausch said that this was the most important race of the year. "Every race just built upon each other until the GNAC."

"We were thinking ‘OK guys, this is the one, this is the big event, this is what we work for all year,'" Rosenthal said. "The team was really pumped up."

"It was going to be a tough race," said Michael Christopher, 22, a senior mechanical engineering major from Hazlet, N.J. "Emerson was looking strong so it was going to be a tough fight."

Emerson placed fourth, close behind NU. Johnson and Wales placed first and Emmanuel College placed second.

"I felt like we did the best we could," Christopher said. "I was really happy with how the freshmen ran."

Christopher placed ninth overall, and second for Norwich, just behind Rosenthal. Christopher said that his favorite moment this season was getting all-conference at the GNAC race.

Rosenthal said that he enjoyed standing up in the top 10 with one of his teammates next to him.

Andrew Pomeroy and Kerry White took 20th and 21st place, respectively, being the fourth and fifth of the Cadets to finish the race.

"I almost tripped over my buddy, Bausch, crossing the finish line," said Pomeroy, 18, a civil engineering major from Strafford, Va. He finished just after Bausch in the race.

"I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out," said White, 18, a freshman computer security major from Hudson Falls, N.Y. "I ran hard and I finished the race."

"We are looking forward to next year," said White. "We have a lot of strong freshmen."

Rosenthal said that because of all of the freshmen on the team, they have a lot of potential for future years. "The team can go places," Rosenthal said.

Bausch also said that the team is going to be good in the future. "The next couple years are going to be really big years for Norwich cross country."