A total of 48 colleges and over 600 runners rolled into Cumberland boasting their school colors and names on the sides of their coach busses, prepared to run the most important race of their season. On a rain soaked day at the Twin Brook Recreational Center, the USM men’s and women’s cross country teams hosted the New England Region Division III Championships with a goal in mind. Both were looking to qualify for nationals as a team. This goal may have not been reached, but each team’s top 5 runners continued their tremendous running in the 2009 season, and look to have at least one individual bid to represent the program at Division III Nationals in Cleveland. The men’s team swiped a 9th place finish out of 48 teams, and the women’s team took the 19th spot out of the 47 teams in their race.
The USM women, who were competing on a 6,000-meter course, faced a tough task ahead of them as the rains started to drizzle down the course making it hard for them to get a firm grip. Despite the elements, Junior Carly Dion (Biddeford) showcased her leadership and great running ability, something she has done in every race for the Huskies in 2009. Coming back from the 2008 season where she struggled through an injury, Dion has proved that she is one of the most solid and consistent runners USM’s program has seen. Dion finished the race 47th overall out of 315 finishers, improving her 2008 New England DIII finish by 60 places. Another highlight of the women’s race was the neck and neck running or junior Alex Raynor (Lamoine) and senior captain Sarah Myrick (Weybridge, VT) provided an exciting finish. Raynor and Myrick finished four tenths of a second apart.
Tyler Jasud (Rumford) extended his reputation as the man’s team’s best runner, as he looks to represent the USM cross-country program in the nationals as an individual for the second year in a row. Jasud, who has been ailed by a hip injury during the course of the 2009 season, continued his storybook collegiate career as he finished 16th out of the 323 participants in the race. Jasud will be hearing his DIII Nationals fate sometime this week. By the end of the women’s race, the course conditions had gone from moderate to sub-par as the men’s gun went off at noon, but that didn’t stop USM’s top 5 runners from turning in a solid performance. Sophomore Alex Gomes (Peabody, MA) stayed consistent as he finished not far behind Jasud in 25th, and senior tri-captain Justin Richardson claimed a well-earned 48th place. All three runners have been huge factors in the success of the men’s cross-country team.
With the season ending for most USM runners, the Huskies established their spot as one of the best programs in Division III cross-country. A determined group of USM runners will return for the 2010 cross-country season hungry for the goal that they always strive for: get to nationals as a team.