By Robert Dietz
The Boston University women’s cross country team opened up its season in grand fashion this weekend, taking first place in its first meet of the season Saturday at Franklin Park.
Averaging a time of 18:15.16 for the 5,000-meter course, the Terriers outran the University of Maine, the University of Vermont and the State University of New York at Albany.
Junior Bolpar Vinh, last year’s MVP and America East champion, led the Terriers as she finished second overall with a time of 17:56.55. BU also grabbed the third through sixth spots, with Rachel Felton, last season’s Performer of the Year, finishing third in 18:12.02. All-American senior captain Kathryn Ireland finished fifth overall with a time of 18:25.13.
Seniors Jennifer Kehoe (18:17.35) and Lauren Matthews (18:25.13) took fourth and sixth places, respectively.
Coach Bruce Lehane said Saturday is the first step in what looks to be a promising year for the Terriers.
“We feel we have potentially the best team we’ve ever had,” Lehane said. That is a strong statement from a coach who has seen nine conference championships in 11 years.
While the season looks promising, Lehane knows the team could face its first test to date when they travel to the Iona Meet Champions in two weeks.
“If we stay healthy and focused, we could finish better than we did two years ago when we finished 18th nationally,” Lehane said.
Because of the terrorist attacks earlier last week, the University of Massachusetts, Yale University, Army, Colgate University and Cornell University did not make compete Saturday.
The men’s cross-country team was also successful in its first meet as it tries to repeat as America East champs. The Terriers began their defense successfully Saturday on an 8,000-meter course, defeating Maine, Albany, Colgate, Southern Connecticut College and Vermont.
The Terriers finished with an average time of 25:31.65. Sophomore Jochen Dieckfoss won the individual title and helped lead the team with a first place time of 25:14.83.
The next four finishers secured a team victory for the Terriers. Junior Liam Revell was fifth in a time of 25:26.18. Junior Jordan Jones was sixth in 25:37.50, followed by junior Robert Wong in 25:39.17 and senior Paul Ryan, who was eighth in 25:40.55.
Despite the easy victory, Lehane recognized the team could get better.
“What we did [Saturday] should not be the best of us. We’ve got some fences to mend, but I know we can improve,” he said.
The team has suffered injuries to several of their key runners. Senior captain Jason Borbet, sophomore Dan Coval, junior Paul Morrice and senior Frederick Naalsund were among those sidelined for the meet.
Nonetheless, Lehane was pleased with the performance of his team.
“We need to get some guys back, but the team is looking good,” Lehane said. “The guys stepped it up through hard training in the summer and are running well. (Jones, Wong, Ryan) walked on, worked hard an developed.”
The coach will need to stay optimistic through the season, knowing how difficult it will be to defend the team’s conference title.
“The University of New Hampshire has a good-looking team, and Maine is right there,” Lehane said. “We know the task that lies ahead of us.”