Cross country team eyes third championship

by Chris Vesci staff writer

Though Cabrini's cross country teams boast only 13 men and women, they are successfully fueled by these diligent student runners and their head coach, Tom O'Hora. Jason Bull and Lauren Dean are two of the top athletes among this tightlyknit rllnning community.

Bull, speaking of the seven member men's cross country team, is quick to point out the excess of desire and discipline needed by each runner. "The team has captured the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title for the past two years, thanks to the coaching skill of O'Hora," Bull said. However, Bull also points out that many of the practices depend on each individual's determination to compete and excel. O'Hora, who coaches both the men and women, conducts two practices a week, and all other workouts are up to the teams to fulfill. For example, Bull runs twice a day, covering a span of eight-15 miles.

On Sundays, the men and women come together for, what Dean describes as "a relaxing time"-a 15 mile run near Boathouse Row. Dean, captain of the women's cross country team, notes that her team has also won the PAC for the past two years. She summarizes her workout schedule as waking up at 7 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays to run, afternoon workouts on the track and then finally finding time for weight lifting two to three times per week. Dean also praises O'Hora who "helps in so many ways" and gets to know his runners on a personal basis.

Bull has accomplished much personally in a sport where so much depends ·on individual effort. His best time for the five mile race is 28:19, but his goal this season is to run it under 27:30. Bull came in second at the PAC championship last year.

Dean, whose career best for the 5k (3 .1 miles) is 18:48, placed first in the women's PAC championship last year. Her goal is to run more competitively and rise above injuries and chronic shin splints which often complicate her running.

Bull highlights the men's cross country team's performance at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Meet on Sept. 25 as a shining moment this season thus far. The team finished second in competition with schools such as Richard Stockton College, Lincoln University, and Marywood University. All seven runners were able to attend and ran • well. Bull sees Patrick Hutton and team captain Jeff Fullem as key performers, also citing the improvement in runner Ricky Romyn.

Dean chooses the Belmont Classic in early October as the women's best meet so far. She says that the team "really pulled through." Even though one teammate was sick, leaving them with only five runners, Dean said, "It is amazing what we can do •with such a small team." Dean identifies the key runners on her team as Kristin Zielinski and Jen Przasnyski. She also added, "If one person gets sick or hurt it can be very devastating to our team."

Both Bull and Dean want their teams to stay on top and remain PAC champions this year. Dean admits that this is a challenging goal with such a small team. Both would love to see more runners join cross country. Bull also would like everyone on his team to "pull closer together"-literally. The smaller the gap between the first and fifth runners in a race, the better the team's overall performance.

As top runners in a sport where meets do not even appear on Cabrini's calendar, Bull and Dean cannot help feeling that their