University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Cross Country Teams Prepare For NCAA Regional Qualifier
November 06, 2007 | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 6, 2007
Amherst, Mass. - The UMass men's and women's cross country teams will head to Boston's Franklin Park this weekend for the NCAA Regional Qualifier hosted by Harvard University. Both teams are coming off of impressive performances in the last few weeks. The men's team tied for third at the A-10 Championships and placed third at the Albany Invitational. The women's team has been led in a big way by senior captain Christina Derosa (Sound Beach, N.Y.). DeRosa has brought home numerous honors over the past few weeks including the A-10 Championship Cross Country Championship Individual Title on October 27th.
DeRosa, who was named UMass Athlete of the Week this past week, on top of the All-Conference and Most Outstanding Performer awards she earned at the A-10 Championships, is the only returning runner for the women's team from last year's event. She placed 46th at the 2006 qualifier and led the women's team to a 21st-place finish, nine places better than the year before. The Minutewomen will look to improve again this year in the 6k race as they are coming off of one week's rest and a fourth-place finish in Albany as well as a sixth-place finish at the A-10 Championships.
Redshirt freshman Shiyi Zan (Ottawa, Ontario) also earned All-Conference honors at the A-10 Championships, and the Minutewomen will be looking to her to set the pace behind DeRosa. Freshmen Lauren Stocker (Westfield, Mass.) and Samantha Sacchetti (Weymouth, Mass.) as well as senior Amber Sayer (Amherst, Mass.) all rounded out the top-five for UMass at the A-10 Championships two weeks ago, and they will be counted on to continue their top performances in this weekend's event.
The men's team is returning junior Jesse Regnier (Hampden, Mass.) from last year's event as well as sophomore Andrew McCann (Fayetteville, N.Y.). Regnier led the way for the Minutemen at last year's 10k qualifier where he finished 54th overall and helped the team to a 14th-place finish, while McCann rounded out the top-five for the Minutemen placing 110th. Both Regnier and McCann earned All-Conference honors after they finished in the top-fifteen at the A-10 Championships.
Regnier and McCann will be expected to set the pace for UMass this weekend, but the Minutemen will also look to sophomores Daniel Barry (Sheffield, Mass.), Jonathan Pierce (Hanover, Mass.), and freshman Jeff Hill (Blackstone, Mass.) who have all been top performers this season, to help the Minutemen improve on last year's 14th-place finish.
The top two teams for both the men and women will advance to the NCAA Championship Meet. Along with those teams, the top four individuals not on the top two teams will also advance to the NCAA Meet as well.
The race will be held at Franklin Park in Boston and the men's race will begin at 2:30 p.m. while the women's race will start at 3:30 p.m.