BROCKTON, Mass. ---- The Massasoit Community College men’s and women’s cross country teams will open the 2015 season by competing in the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.
First year head coach Matt Jordan, who also runs the Massasoit track and field program, has three student-athletes that have been training and are very excited to get the season underway.
“Preseason training has gone extremely well for us,” Jordan said. “The kids have responded well to the difficult workouts and I have seen some tremendous progress from each runner.”
On the men’s side, Jordan has two student-athletes that will run, in freshmen Zach Arnold (Plymouth/Plymouth South HS) and James Sepulveda (Brockton/Southeastern Voc Tech).
Arnold is new to cross country, but has running experience, competing in both track and field and soccer at Plymouth South High School.
Sepulveda is an experienced cross country runner, competing in high school at Southeastern Voc Tech. The freshman is in great shape after just a short amount of time spent training. Coach Jordan believes Sepulveda could turn some heads this season at some races.
Two-time NJCAA National Tournament qualifier in the 5,000-meter race, Kerry O’Neil (Stoughton/Stoughton HS), will represent the women’s side.
O’Neil is especially excited to start up her cross country campaign as it will be her last competitive season as a Massasoit student-athlete after being a distance runner the past two springs for the Warriors.
Coach Jordan is hopeful that his trio of runners will put forth a strong performance in the first meet as a launching point forward for the rest of the season.
"Cross country is a staple sport in New England,” Jordan said. “We may only have a handful of runners in our first season but I have a good feeling that number will grow significantly in the years to follow."
Massasoit will take part in the sub varsity race at UMass-Dartmouth against other junior colleges and first-year NCAA programs.
Next up for the Warriors will be the CCRI Tri-State Invitational hosted by the Community College or Rhode Island on Oct. 3 in Warwick, R.I.
