MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The SUNY Morrisville men's and women's cross-country teams will open the 2022 season slate Saturday as they head to LeMoyne College for the Frank Dillon Memorial Invitational.
Morrisville women will be the first to toe the line in 2022 for the Mustangs and will build off the experience gained by returning All-Conference honorees Pippy Pritchard (Saskatoon, Sask.) and
Madison Tomkins (Windsor, Ont.), along with experienced senior
Rebecca Randall (Prattsburgh, N.Y.), while a handful of newcomers to the roster add to the team's depth.
"Starting with a lineup that contains nine runners for us will be a huge advantage heading into our schedule," head coach
Derek Powers said. Powers, who enters his 24th season at the helm of the program, looks to build off the success the team had a year ago in 2022 as they prepare for their final season as members of the United East.
"As with any season," Powers said, "we hope to keep our roster healthy and continue to improve throughout the season to the United East championships."
"We are looking to have newcomers
Alexus Lennon (Rome, N.Y.) and
Lilly Kairewich (Chittenango, N.Y.) made immediate impacts in our scoring this season, both of which have the potential of being All-Conference runners for us."
On the men's side, Morrisville stands 10 deep and without any seniors on the roster in 2022, the Mustangs will rely on the talents of its incoming class to set the pace on the season.
"Our freshmen came in in good shape and we are able to design their workouts to make them stronger and build towards conference championships immediately," Powers said.
"We will race some quality local teams in ESF, LeMoyne, Hamilton, among others, early in the season, and with additional top competition throughout the remainder of the season will prepare the young team for the championship in late October."
While Morrisville has to replace the talent of 2021 United East champion
Peyton Jones, they do return All-Conference honoree
James Farmer-Valente (Mississaugua, Ont.) in 2022, who got a taste of top competition a year ago.
Powers pointed to the abilities of
Nasir King (Elmira, N.Y.),
Nathaniel Dziedzic (Chittenango, N.Y.),
Jake Roman (Liverpool, N.Y.),
Artis Sparrow-Powell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.),
Sean McGregor (Pulaski, N.Y.) and
Jonas Meays (Holland Patent, N.Y.) who at any given race could challenge for that top five scoring team.
While the season gets underway Saturday and both teams are eager to head out for their first competition of the season, the coaching staff is anxious to see where each will challenge teammates for that scoring position.
Full schedule and roster information is available on the college's athletic website at www.morrisvillemustangs.com.
SUNY Morrisville's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2022 issue and was among the top 10 performers for social mobility, and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2022 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about SUNY Morrisville, visit www.morrisville.edu.
